STATE 2A GIRLS BASKETBALL: Not the Knights' day ... Lakeside struggles on offensive end in loss to Valley

By JASON ELLIOTT 

Sports writer 

NAMPA — Once one thing started to go wrong, then another domino fell on the Lakeside Knights on Thursday afternoon. 

First, the sluggish start. 

Then, came the turnovers. 

And suddenly, the state 2A girls basketball opener was out of the sixth-seeded Knights’ reach. 

Lakeside, limited to 13-of-47 shooting, including 0-for-14 from the 3-point line, fell to the third-seeded Valley Vikings of Hazelton 53-31 in an opening round game at Columbia High. 

Lakeside (13-8) will face seventh-seeded Liberty Charter (17-6) in a loser-out game today at 11 a.m. PST.  Liberty Charter fell to second-seeded Prairie (21-2) 64-22 in its opening round game. 

Junior Kyleigh Wolfe, who had scored at least 30 points in each of her last five games, finished with 12 points for Lakeside, eight in the second half. 

“It’s always hard coming down here,” Wolfe said. “It’s a little nerve-wracking and it was really tough for us to adjust to that aggressive style of game.” 

Wolfe was 6 of 21 shooting. 

“They double-teamed me a lot at the top of the 3-point line, and I couldn’t really do much of anything,” Wolfe said. “They just played with some aggressive defense and slowed us down a lot.” 

Freshman Laila Charley had five points and four rebounds for the Knights, who are at state for the first time since 2023. 

“We started to put a little bit of pressure on them to come back,” Charley said. “But they just played with more effort than us. We need to try a little harder tomorrow.” 

Lakeside shot 5 of 20 from the field in the first half, and was held without a point in the second quarter until a basket by Tylah Lambert with 1:30 remaining in the first half as Valley built a 28-8 lead. 

“I think it was a combination of stuff,” Lakeside coach Chris Dohrman said. “We had some opportunities and some good shots, but didn’t get them. It just wasn’t our night shooting, and that was a difference. Give Valley some credit on the defensive end; we didn’t take care of the ball and didn’t work well as a team.” 

Valley outrebounded Lakeside 46-32. 

“We did a lot better in the second half,” Dohrman said. “We really got outrebounded, and they beat us on a lot of the 50/50 balls that you need to win a game. Give Valley credit, they just outplayed us today and it wasn’t our day to move on.” 

Lakeside is at state for the sixth time in 10 seasons. 

“We’ve got a shot at the consolation, so we’ll have to regroup and be ready to play,” Wolfe said. “We’ll be ready to play with more effort tomorrow.” 

“Hopefully we’ll regroup and play a little better,” Dohrman said. “On a bad night, we were shooting in the 30s. And tonight was one of the worst games to have that happen, and it was kind of a snowball effect for us. Our defense usually energizes our offense, and our offense energizes our defense, and that really hurt us today.” 

Wolfe scored a career-high 39 points for Lakeside in a loss at Bonners Ferry on Jan. 30.

“She’s a great player,” second-year Valley coach Derek Malone said of Wolfe. “The way she sets her players up and she drive hard to the hoop. I’ve never seen someone get hit so hard and finish. And it’s not like she just did that today. She’s been doing it all year from what I’ve seen on game film. We had to gamble on that and stop her, but those second and third threats can shoot it as well.” 

“We saw where she was comfortable and wanted to take her out of her comfort zone,” Malone said. “It worked out for us in the end, but they kept coming. That game wasn’t secure until the last 30 seconds.” 

Lakeside    8    4    11    8    —    31 

Valley        17    13    12    11    —    53 

LAKESIDE — Gorr 0, Pluff 6, Wolfe 12, Charley 5, Matheson 0, Lowley 0, Hodgson 2, Stensgar 2, Aldrich 0, Lambert 4, Peone 0. Totals 13-47 5-12 31. 

VALLEY — Lewis 10, Godfrey 6, E. Huettig 2, Sanchez 9, Malone 7, Af. Godfrey 0, Juarez 7, L. Huettig 12. Totals 21-58 7-16 53. 

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Lakeside forward Tylah Lambert (24) and Valley's Alora Godfrey (11) get tangled going for a rebound in the first quarter of Thursday's state 2A girls basketball game at Columbia High in Nampa.
  

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Lakeside freshman Laila Charley attempts a layup through the Valley defense during the fourth quarter of Thursday's state 2A girls basketball opening round game at Columbia High in Nampa.