Lakeland’s upset bid falls short against Burley

BOISE – For three quarters, a young and scrappy Lakeland High boys basketball team hung right with favored Burley at the State 4A tournament.

But in the fourth quarter, the Bobcats’ experience and scoring punch proved too much to overcome. Sophomore guard Ryan Bagley scored 10 unanswered points in the final period – part of a 21-point effort – as Burley pulled away for a 56-45 victory Thursday afternoon at Borah High School.

Lakeland (10-13) falls into the consolation bracket, where it will face Middleton (10-14) at 1:15 p.m. Friday at Borah. Burley (17-8) advances to play top-ranked Preston (20-4) in a 6:15 p.m. semifinal.

“We certainly were the underdog,” Lakeland coach Dave Stockwell said. “Burley had three or four really good offensive weapons, so we had to scramble a bit more than we are used to. I thought we did a good job and played them pretty even most of the game, but they built a cushion in that one little stretch, and that was really the difference.”

Burley got off to a fast start and led 16-10 after one quarter, but sophomore sharpshooter Kaden Davis kept Lakeland afloat. Davis scored 13 first-half points, including three 3-pointers, as the Hawks battled back and eventually took the lead. Burley senior Britton Gurrard nailed a 3 at the halftime buzzer as the Bobcats took a slim 25-23 lead into the locker room.

“We were switching defenses a lot, and I think that really helped us,” said Lakeland senior Forest Zubaly. “They didn’t know what we were going to do next.”

But in the second half, Burley began to solve the Hawks – thanks in part to a defensive adjustment by Bobcats coach Jack Bagley.

“I thought Kaden Davis dominated us in the first half,” Bagley said. “We lost track of him in our zone. We made the switch to man-to-man, and I think that was the key to kind of slowing him down.”

Davis – who scored a team-high 15 points – only managed two in the second half. And after a tightly played third quarter, Ryan Bagley’s 10-point eruption helped the Bobcats seize control. The sophomore made two driving layups and two deep 3-pointers as Burley saw a five-point cushion balloon to a 47-32 advantage that was never seriously threatened in the final five minutes.

“They made a nice run, and we never really came back from that,” said Zubaly, who finished with 13 points and six rebounds. “But it has been an awesome experience for us, being here at the state tournament. No one expected us to be here, but we’re soaking it up.”

Ryan Bagley added five rebounds, four assists and four steals to his big scoring night. Gurrard had 12 points and Braydn Bell chipped in 10 for Burley.

Davis and Zubaly were the only Lakeland players to reach double figures. Senior forward Dan McDevitt had six points and five rebounds for the Hawks, who shot 47 percent from the floor in the loss.

3A State