Lake City Timberwolves girls stumble out of gate

NAMPA – On most nights, holding high-powered Centennial to 41 points would lead to victory. But for the Lake City girls, a stingy defensive effort wasn’t enough to overcome early nerves and a cold-shooting night at the State 5A tournament.

Lake City’s defensive strategy stifled the Patriots, but the Timberwolves couldn’t find enough offense of their own, falling 41-32 in Thursday’s opening round at Ford Idaho Center.

Lake City (19-5) falls into the consolation bracket, where it will face Highland (14-11) at 3 p.m. Friday.

“We just didn’t knock down shots,” Lake City coach Bryan Kelly said. “It’s a new atmosphere, and it’s a little tougher shooting in this gym, but you’ve got to make shots if you’re going to win games at state.”

The Timberwolves looked tight in the early going, missing open shots and struggling against the Patriots’ quick, pressure defense. Centennial grabbed an early 12-4 lead, knocking Lake City squarely on its heels.

“We had a lot of nerves going, especially at the start,” Lake City senior Cierra Dvorak said. “It definitely didn’t help putting ourselves in such a hole.”

Slowly but surely, Lake City clawed its way back. The Timberwolves employed an innovative mix of man and zone defenses to stymie Centennial’s dynamic duo of Tori Williams and Dominique Williams, who combined to score just 16 points.

“Defensively, I thought we did exactly what we needed to do against them,” Bryan said. “But they’re a good defensive team, too. It was a battle.”

Lake City fought all the way back, eventually tying the game on a 3-pointer by Whitney Meier with 4:33 remaining. But two big second-chance buckets by Centennial stifled the rally, and the Patriots were able to close things out at the free-throw line down the stretch.

“We were right there tied up with a chance to win the game, but we didn’t block out on a couple possessions,” Bryan said. “When you give a team multiple chances, they’re going to make you pay.”

Freshman forward Bridget Rieken led Lake City with seven points and 10 rebounds, while Dvorak added six points and four assists. The Timberwolves shot 31 percent from the field, 11 percent on 3-pointers and 53 percent from the free throw line while committing 17 turnovers.

Ami Ti’a led all scorers with 10 points for Centennial. Tori Williams scored nine and Dominique Williams added seven points and 12 rebounds. The Patriots, coached by Lake City alumna Cassie Bro, advance to play Boise (18-6) in Friday’s semifinals.

“It was exciting to see (Lake City), because we hadn’t played them since I’ve been coaching high school,” Bro said. “I thought it was kind of unique, because when I went to state as a player, the first team we played was Centennial.”