Lakeside Boys Capture State Crown Knights Use Deliberate Game Plan To Down Troy 44-34 In A-4 Final

The crowning of the State A-4 boys basketball champion Saturday afternoon was as anticlimactic as the game.

No. 1-ranked Lakeside not only lived up to its season-ending rating, but to all the preseason hype that it was the clear-cut favorite to capture the state championship after returning several key players off a state runner-up team last season.

And the Knights did it by borrowing a page out of Troy’s offensive and defensive playbook as Lakeside downed the Tigers 44-34 in a mostly deliberate, bland final before 1,500 at the Idaho Center.

Lakeside ran when it could, but the Knights exercised unusual patience and played solid man-to-man defense - Troy’s strengths until running into the much taller and quicker Knights.

The state championship is the first in school history for Lakeside since Plummer and Worley consolidated in 1990-91.

About 15 minutes after the game in the locker room, a handful of Lakeside players asked coach Greg Stutzman if he’d get a bonus for winning the state crown.

“Just a pat on the back,” he said. “That’s all I need.”

Stutzman admittedly was concerned taking on the Trojans, the lone team to defeat Lakeside this season. It was a clash of extremes - one team patient, the other pushing the tempo to the extreme at times.

But Stutzman’s team let off the throttle. It was especially apparent and effective in the final 4 minutes.

“We wanted to take advantage of the clock and take advantage of the 10-point lead,” Stutzman said.

Andrew Twiss made a free throw to push Lakeside’s lead to 39-29 with 3:54 left. The slower pace allowed the Knights to extend the advantage to 13 at 42-29 when Brenden Nelson scored on a short jumper with 1:21 left.

“That was probably one of our best games defensively,” Stutzman said.

Lakeside got off to a blistering start. A 3-pointer by Sam Lozeau gave the Knights a 14-2 lead with 2:01 left in the first quarter. They led 14-4 at the quarter break.

A 10-2 spurt by the Knights to open the second period widened the lead to 24-6 with 3:46 remaining before halftime.

But Lakeside couldn’t put the Trojans away. Back-to-back field goals, a 3-pointer and a free throw by Morgan LaBlanc sliced the Knights’ lead to 26-14 by halftime.

An early backbreaker for Troy occurred at the end of the third quarter. Lakeside reserve Todd Morris made his only basket of the game when he pulled up from 27 feet and swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer to move the Knights’ lead back to double digits at 37-25.

The closest Troy would get in the fourth quarter came with 27 seconds left when LaBlanc made a 3-pointer to pull the Trojans within 42-34.

“We thought all season we had to win it all or it was all for nothing,” Lakeside senior wing Glen Lambert said. “Look at the stats. Everyone contributed tonight. It shows how good a team we really are.”

Lakeside (22-1), which opened the season beating Troy 67-50 and later lost 55-45 at Troy, finished the season on a 17-game winning streak.

Troy, which had won 21 straight going into the title contest, ends 23-4. Troy played without leading scorer Mike Kozeni, who was kicked off the team for an athletic code violation last weekend following the district tournament.

“Like I told them in the locker room, there are like 55 teams in A-4 and 53 of ‘em would have liked to be in our place today,” Troy coach Brad Malm said. Lakeside became the first NorthCentral Idaho team to win a state title since 1989.

“The kids had to go out and play with (pressure) on their shoulders every night,” Stutzman said. “We didn’t come here to take second.”

Lakeside 44, Troy 34

Lakeside 14 12 11 7 - 44 Troy 4 10 11 9 - 34

LAKESIDE - Twoteeth 3, Nelson 9, Lozeau 7, Allen 7, McFadden 0, Pluff 0, Lambert 4, T. Morris 3, Twiss 10, B. Morris 1.

TROY - Potter 6, L. Payne 4, Geidl 0, Brazington 0, LaBlanc 19, McKenzie 0, Z. Payne 5.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo