Lakeland girls head to State 4A tourney

Don’t call them impatient, but the Lakeland Hawks didn’t want to wait another day to punch their ticket to the State 4A girls basketball tournament.

So behind strong scoring performances from juniors Camille Reynolds and Ali Whitted and a dogged full-court defense that forced 20 turnovers, the Hawks got the job done Friday, eliminating the game Sandpoint Bulldogs 47-37 to capture the 4A Region I championship.

Lakeland (7-14) advances to state, which begins Thursday at Timberline High in Boise.

Reynolds, who led the way for the Hawks with 16 points, including 7 of 7 from the line, said she and her teammates knew how dangerous Sandpoint could be if it had forced a second title game.

“We were talking about it in the locker room, and losing was not an option tonight,” Reynolds said. “We didn’t want to even think about playing (tonight) because of all the pressure of a game like that.

“We wanted to do it this way.”

The game was relatively tight with Lakeland clinging to a narrow lead at 31-25 after three quarters, and junior standout Brittany Oakley brought the Bulldogs to within four (32-28) with a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.

But the Hawks immediately went on a 12-0 run, punctuated by a Whitted rebound and putback, and Lakeland’s berth was all but won.

Whitted, who knocked down 15 points despite sitting for a stretch with foul trouble early in the second half, said the key to the run was taking care of the ball.

“We handled the ball really well and didn’t turn it over,” Whitted said. “And we made really big shots, which helped us a lot.

“I’m just so happy that we won.”

As was Hawks coach Steve Seymour, a seasoned veteran of the anything-can-happen-and-frequently-does nature of district play.

“It was totally significant (that we got it done tonight),” Seymour said. “You know that anything can happen, and you prepare yourself not to be too disappointed if a talented team like Sandpoint comes in and gets one here so you’re able to bounce back.

“But I’m sure glad we didn’t have to try.”

Oakley led all scorers with 20 points for Sandpoint, which finished its season at 9-15.

Bulldogs coach Jim Alsager, who said he couldn’t have been prouder of his team’s effort – all season long – pointed to a stretch early in the second half as the difference in Friday’s game.

“At the beginning of the second half, we pretty much gave them the game,” Alsager said. “We pretty much handed the ball off to Reynolds going the distance – they were pretty much ready at the half and we had two or three minutes of getting back into rhythm.

“Once the lead got to eight or nine, we had our work cut out for us and we started to press maybe a little bit more.”