T-Wolves Bring Home Trophy Win Over Highland Earns Fourth Place
Considering the start of the State A-1 girls basketball tournament, Lake City still managed to write a happy ending.
Beaten for the first time this season in their state opener, the Timberwolves rallied to capture the fourth-place trophy Saturday morning. They posted a defensive 44-29 victory over Highland in the breakfast special at the Idaho Center.
Although it was well short of their goal, the T-Wolves to a player and coach agreed it was better than nothing.
“This isn’t what we came down here for, but it’s better than a kick in the teeth,” said coach Dave Stockwell, smiling.
LC played as well as could be expected for what was equivalent to an 8:15 a.m. tipoff at home (9:15 Boise-area time).
“They couldn’t get that excited about this game,” Stockwell said. “I knew coming in we weren’t going to be very intense.”
The victor is usually the team that wakes up first.
For a quarter, both teams sleepwalked. A rebound basket by Kelley McCabe put the T-Wolves ahead 6-0 with 2:20 left in the first quarter, LC led 8-3 going into the second period.
The T-Wolves led 17-12 at halftime, but it could have been a much wider margin considering Highland committed 19 turnovers.
But LC allowed Highland to stay close in the first half by making just 8 of 26 attempts from the field - 4 of 13 in each quarter.
When Alison Asher scored from the low post to extend LC’s lead to 37-23 with 3:52 left in the fourth quarter, the game was essentially over.
The final statistics weren’t dazzling. Lindsay Herbert led LC with 13 points, Asher had 10 and McCabe added nine points and 10 rebounds.
LC held Highland’s high scorer, Joy Kugler, in check. She finished with just two points.
The most spectacular stat, though, is LC’s final record: 25-1.
Stockwell and several players expressed mixed emotions afterward. The general consensus was the season was outstanding despite the upset to Centennial on Thursday.
Stockwell won’t let that loss be a blemish on the season.
“It’s not a bad record. You can’t discount that,” Stockwell said. “To not come home with a state championship and let that damper this thing … I hope no one looks at it that way. This is one of the best teams ever out of North Idaho.
“After yesterday’s ballgame a lot of people could argue that we’re the best team at this tournament. They showed their stuff yesterday.”
Stockwell had taken his seniors out late in the game, but as a final gesture of honoring them, he put them back in with 1 minute remaining.
LC graduates Herbert, Asher, McCabe, Katie Hawn and Kelle Kendrick. The lone returning starter will be junior Laura Dodge.
Herbert was the first substitute off the bench when LC won a state title its first year. When she was a sophomore, LC finished fifth. Last year the T-Wolves were runners-up.
“We’re happy that we ended our season on a win,” said Herbert, who will play at the University of Utah next year. “It was a fun year. We should have won (state) last year and this year, but we had good teams and we had fun. That’s most important.”
Dodge will be a key link to the T-Wolves’ past and present next year.
“At least we came back, because we were all ready to go home with our tails between our legs after the loss,” Dodge said. “I’m glad we battled back. I just can’t believe we weren’t in the championship game. I don’t like the phrase ‘should have’. We ‘should have’ won last year and we ‘should have’ won this year. I’m sick of it.”
Asher, bound for the University of Portland, leaves with no regrets.
“We knew we could have been playing later in the day,” she said. “We had a great team. The most important thing is we ended with a win. We came out champions in our heart. We knew we were No. 1.”
Lake City 44, Highland 29
Highland 3 9 11 6 - 29
Lake City 8 9 13 14 - 44
HIGHLAND - Nielsen 0, McBride 0, Walker 12, DesFosses 0, VanWart 0, Taylor 3, Ricks 11, Halford 0, Bell 1, Kugler 2.
LAKE CITY - Hayes 2, Kendrick 0, Bro 0, Herbert 13, McCabe 9, Dodge 6, Asher 10, Stern 2.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 color photos