Lake City Has Winning Genes Herbert, Nic Coach’s Granddaughter, Stars As T-Wolves Take State Opener

It’s in the genes.

With her teammates suffering from a case of first-game jitters at the State A-1 girls basketball tournament Thursday afternoon, Lake City sophomore Lindsay Herbert took over.

Herbert - whose father, Gordie, was a standout player at the University of Idaho in the early 1980s and whose grandfather is longtime North Idaho College coach Rolly Williams - made all five of her shots from the field in the second half to fuel Lake City’s 49-32 victory over Nampa at College of Southern Idaho.

The defending state champion Timberwolves (14-7 overall) will meet Centennial (19-5) in the semifinals tonight at 5:30 PST.

Centennial, which fell to Lake City 70-53 in a season opener at LC, advanced with a 47-43 victory over Highland of Pocatello.

Highland (22-2) and Nampa (15-10) meet today in a loser-out game.

Lake City 49, Nampa 32

Herbert’s final basket probably was her biggest.

The 5-foot-10, multi-talented wing swished a 3-pointer from just in front of the Timberwolves bench with 3:11 remaining to put LC ahead 43-31.

The basket thwarted any comeback hopes Nampa might have had and appeared to calm the Timberwolves’ nerves at a time when panic had started to set in.

“I think we probably thought we had the game (won), and we relaxed a little bit,” Herbert said. “But (Coach Dave) Stockwell told us we couldn’t relax.”

Herbert scored a game-high 20 points, making 9 of 12 shots from the field. She also had four steals, four rebounds and three blocked shots.

Herbert, often expressionless on the court, said she was just as nervous as anyone prior to the game.

“I was REAL nervous,” she said, smiling. “I think we’ll come out way more relaxed (tonight). We’ll run our game. We’ve got as good a chance as anybody (to win state).”

Lake City didn’t play like the defending champion early. The Timberwolves led just 7-6 after the first quarter before an 8-0 spurt midway in the second quarter helped them open a 24-18 halftime lead. Their final basket of the half came on a play designed for Herbert and appropriately titled “Lindsay.”

Herbert broke to the basket from beyond the 3-point arc and point guard Katie Hatrock lobbed a well-timed pass that Herbert caught in midair and rolled off her fingers into the basket.

Stockwell said Herbert’s clutch 3-pointer also was a play he put in LC’s offensive package this week.

“Lindsay was the key to this win,” he said. “She did a good job ballhandling and passing. When we needed to go to somebody, she was the one that answered.”“She got loose on us, made some baseline drives a couple of times,” Gregory said. “We held her down pretty good in the first half. They’re a good team, but we took ourselves out it, too. I think we could have made it a better game.”

LC took control in the third quarter, scoring eight straight points to take a 38-21 lead just before the quarter expired. Herbert drove the baseline and hung in the air before releasing a soft roller in the basket to extend the T-Wolves’ lead to 17 points.

LC’s half-court trap and 2-3 zone caused Nampa fits. The Bulldogs committed 28 turnovers, and the T-Wolves collected 18 steals.

Lake City’s 6-3 sophomore Alison Asher had five blocked shots, pushing her season total to 95. She also had a team-leading 10 rebounds.Abby Markus led Nampa with 13 points.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s ugly or pretty; you’ve got to win three,” Stockwell said. “This is Step One. Two more to go.”

Lake City 49, Nampa 32

Lake City 7 17 14 11 - 49

Nampa 6 12 5 9 - 32

LAKE CITY Jacobson 2, Hatrock 6, Tolzmann 2, Telford 6, Stetson 5, M. Asher 2, Herbert 20, A. Asher 2, Dodge 4.

NAMPA Worrell 2, Schmidt 0, Kollmann 6, Lampman 2, Markus 13, Smith 9.

Centennial 47, Highland 43

Senior guard Stacie Kirk scored 21 points and sophomore Kristinya Birch’s layup with 2 seconds left ended a late threat as Centennial edged Highland.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo