Lake City Plays Dodge Ball In Opener Sophomore Forward Recovers From Slow Start, Scores 20 In Win Over Eagles

Sophomore forward Laura Dodge giggled about it afterward, but she wasn’t laughing nearly a minute into the Lake City High girls basketball team’s State A-1 opener Thursday afternoon.

Nervous and pale as bed linens, Dodge shot one air ball and barely touched the rim on another shot when Timberwolves coach Dave Stockwell sat her on the bench.

Although she would misfire once more before the end of the first quarter, Dodge rapidly gathered herself in the second period and wound up scoring a career-high 20 points to lead Lake City to a 53-46 victory over the Eagle Mustangs at the new Idaho Center.

Stockwell’s first words to a group of sportswriters afterward were in the form of a question: “Did we look nervous out there? I think our adrenaline level was so high in the first half that it made us look like we were in slow motion.”

Lake City (21-3) will take on host Nampa (15-11) tonight at 5:30 PST. The winner will advance to the state title game on Saturday.

Nampa, the District III fourth-place finisher, upset District IV champ Madison, 50-43.

Dodge may have been the first T-Wolf to display jitters, but she had plenty of company.

When it mattered most in the final 2 minutes, though, the T-Wolves, No. 1-ranked all season, played like a championship team.

“I think I got my nerves out after the airballs,” said Dodge, who scored 12 points in the second quarter on 6-of-7 shooting.

And Dodge’s shots weren’t layups or short turnaround jumpers in the key. She started her scoring spree with a 19-footer from the corner and added three soft baseline jumpers in the 8-foot range.

“She really came through. That was her biggest game of the year,” Stockwell said.

Dodge deflected much of the praise, saying she was largely a beneficiary of teamwork and nice passes in transition.

“I just ended up being the one shooting the shots,” said Dodge, who also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Dodge scored LC’s final two baskets in the first half off of assists from Alison Asher and Lindsay Herbert. Her final basket came at the buzzer when she put up the shot sideways from 12 feet off an inbounds pass from Herbert.

It gave LC a 31-27 lead at halftime. Stockwell told his players to relax before they left the locker room for the second half.

They did. A three-point play by Dodge out of LC’s set offense put the T-Wolves ahead 40-30 with 3:20 left in the third quarter. A driving basket by point guard Katie Hatrock kept the lead at 10 before an Eagle basket in the final seconds of the period cut the lead to 44-36.

Hatrock extended the lead back to 10 when she hit an 8-foot jumper off a pass from Asher following a steal, but LC went scoreless for the next 5 minutes.

Eagle (16-8) pulled within 46-42 when Emily Gaythwaite got a steal and a layup with 3:13 left.

The T-Wolves gave the Mustangs two more chances with back-to-back turnovers with just over 2 minutes remaining.

But LC’s full-court pressure forced back-to-back Mustangs turnovers. The T-Wolves took advantage as Herbert hit a jumper off an assist from Hatrock and Herbert returned the favor to Hatrock, whose 15-foot baseline jumper put LC ahead 50-42 with 1:40 left.

Stockwell expects his team to play much more relaxed tonight.

“We’ve been down here enough times to know the first game is always tough,” Stockwell said. “You don’t know what you’re going to see and if you win a little luck comes in. I’ve seen No. 1 teams come down here and lose the first day. I’m pretty confident we’ll do better (tonight).”

Lake City 53, Eagle 46

Eagle 16 11 9 10 - 46

Lake City 15 16 13 9 - 53

Eagle - Gaythwaite 12, Dawson 8, Hoyt 2, Vail 7, Graham 0, Rogers 4, Peterson 13.

Lake City - Hatrock 11, Hawn 0, Herbert 14, McCabe 4, Dodge 20, Asher 4.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: A-1 State Thursday’s results Lake City 53, Eagle 46 Nampa 50, Madison 43 Borah 56, Bonneville 30 Centennial 46, Highland 43