STATE 2A BOYS BASKETBALL: Lakeside recalibrates — Knights shake off early struggles, run past Riverstone in state opener

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

CALDWELL – You can point the finger at a lot of things for Lakeside’s slow start in Thursday’s state 2A boys basketball opener.

Struggles on defense.

Riverstone was shooting equally as well.

MapQuest might have had a role.

But as most teams do, Lakeside found a way, not only to the gym, but to the semifinals later tonight.

Junior Hallah Peone scored 17 of his game-high 30 points in the first half and junior Tyson Charley added 27 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the fourth-seeded Knights, who moved past the fifth-seeded Riverstone Otters of Boise 75-59 at Vallivue High.

“When they’re confident like that, we’re tough to beat,” Lakeside coach James Twoteeth said. “We really didn’t run any offense for them and kind of worked the ball around and they took a shot.”

Lakeside (16-5), which has played in the last two state title games, will face top-seeded Kamiah (22-2), an 83-43 winner over Victory Charter, in a semifinal game tonight at 6 PST. Kamiah beat Lakeside 66-55 in Kamiah on Dec. 7.

“If we play good defense and move the ball around, I think we’ve got them,” Charley said. “That’s what we’ve been waiting for since we lost to them in December.”

Riverstone (20-3) faces Victory Charter (14-10) in a loser-out game today.

Charley, who has been battling a knee injury since early in the season, scored 15 of his 27 points in the second half.

“I’ve been playing on a torn (left) meniscus since late December,” Charley said. “I’ve got surgery coming after the season.”

Lakeside, which was staying in a hotel in downtown Boise, was stuck in traffic traveling to Caldwell, arriving 25 minutes before the scheduled tipoff. 

“It took us out, man,” Twoteeth said. “When we got in the car, it said 45 minutes, but it was actually an hour and 45 minutes. It was crazy.”

Twoteeth said the team changed into its uniforms on the bus and arrived after the Kamiah game, the first of the two games in the evening session, had already been completed. 

Lakeside used a 15-3 run in the third quarter to stretch a 38-34 halftime lead to 63-44 after the third quarter.

Riverstone had six of its eight 3-pointers in the first half to keep pace.

“Our defense wasn’t there in the first half,” Twoteeth said. “Our offense is always going to be there, but defensively we were a little lackluster and letting them shoot and watching them. If I can get them to play defense, and it’s been a thing all year that they don’t want to play defense. I told them if we played defense, we would have won by 40, but it just took a while to get going.”

Peone scored 11 points in the third quarter for Lakeside, which finished 32 of 60 shooting.

“We finally woke up in the second half,” Charley said. “We were stuck in traffic and it took us a little bit to get hyped. But we just decided to wake up after halftime. We kind of shook off our bus legs.”

Finn Simon scored 20 points for Riverstone, the District 3 champion, which returned to state for the first time since 2021.

Riverstone    18    16    10    15    –    59

Lakeside    21    17    25    12    –    75

RIVERSTONE – Ness 10, Sangha 12, Gasparini 4, Simon 20 Bava 4, Scripps 0, Avery 0, Brooks 0. Totals 23-58 5-8 59.

LAKESIDE – Peone 30, Louie 7, Greensky 0, Samuels 2, SpottedHorse 24, Sines 0, Charley 27, Pluff 5. Totals 32-60 2-5 75. 

    JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Lakeside sophomore forward Jadin Pluff pulls down a rebound during the first quarter of Thursday's state 1A boys basketball opening round game against Riverstone of Boise at Vallivue High in Caldwell.