Wolves Whack Broncos Backup Point Guard Katie Hatrock Shoots Lake City Into A-1 Title Game

Katie Hatrock, a reserve sophomore point guard, is the primary reason the Lake City High School girls basketball team advanced to tonight’s State A-1 championship game.

When the Timberwolves’ usual offensive weapons disappeared Friday, the 5-foot-4 Hatrock stepped behind the 3-point line as Lake City eventually pulled away to a 56-33 semifinal victory over the Blackfoot Broncos.

Lake City (23-1 overall) will take on Pocatello (23-2) in the championship final tonight at 7 PST in the Albertson Activities Center at Albertson College.

Pocatello fought off Centennial 47-43 in the other semifinal.

Blackfoot (18-7) will meet Centennial (22-3) in the third-place game today.

In loser-out games Friday, Borah eliminated Highland 57-48 while Nampa bounced back from a tough overtime loss to Pocatello to handle Madison 47-34.

Borah (19-6) will play Nampa (18-8) in the consolation final.

Lake City 56, Blackfoot 33: With the Broncos’ collapsing 2-3 zone defense shutting off the T-Wolves inside, LC coach Dave Fealko knew his team had to make a few shots from the perimeter to loosen the Blackfoot defense.

So after Hatrock came into the game early in the second quarter because point guard Jennifer Kerns had picked up her second foul, Fealko moved Hatrock to the off-guard spot.

That’s the technical adjustment. Hatrock proceded to make Fealko look brilliant, making 5 of 5 3-pointers, including two that extended LC’s second-quarter lead to 19-11.

But the shots that proved too much for Blackfoot to overcome came in the third quarter. In a span of 2:18, Hatrock made three 3s to put LC ahead 36-14.

Hatrock’s career-high 15 points earned her game-high scoring honors.

“I just felt it tonight,” said Hatrock, an admitted streaky shooter. In fact, her last shot, a 17-footer straight on, hit the bottom right side of the backboard.

“I look to drive if I start to miss my outside shots,” she added. “But if I’m hitting, I’ll keep shooting.”

The Broncos could pull only within 16 points after Hatrock’s heroics - that late in the fourth quarter.

“The way (Blackfoot) was collapsing on the zone, we had to take the (3-point) shot,” Fealko said. “She’s one of these streak shooters. She was the turning point.

“Someone has always stepped up on this team. That’s the character of this team. It’s not, `Hey, these kids (starters) didn’t get the job done.’ It’s, `The other kids did do the job.’ That’s been our key all year.”

Freshman Lindsay Herbert complemented Hatrock in the fourth quarter after Kerns fouled out - her final foul punctuated by a technical when she hit the basketball in frustration and it struck a Bronco.

Herbert scored seven of her eight points in the fourth. She turned two steals into layups and made three free throws in the final 3 minutes.

“When you’ve got a sophomore (Hatrock) and a freshman (Herbert) come in and take over for that senior (Kerns) it makes you that much tougher,” Fealko said.

Blackfoot had the pace at its liking in the first half - very deliberate.

Lake City committed 10 turnovers in the first half, seven when the T-Wolves tried to force entry passes against Blackfoot’s 2-3 zone.

Although unable to unleash its fullcourt pressure in the opening two quarters, LC played solid halfcourt defense. The T-Wolves were consistently aware of where Blackfoot 3-point specialist Stefney Layton was on the perimeter.

Layton made her first 3-pointer, then missed five straight shots the rest of the half. She finished with nine points.

Blackfoot wasn’t shy about launching the extra-point bomb, but made just 1 of 12 in the first half, 4 of 17 for the game.

LC post Shannon Riggs led the T-Wolves on the boards, grabbing a team-high 10. Rebounding was critical as LC limited Blackfoot to one shot on most possessions.

“We played good defense, but you can only keep that intensity up on defense so long if your offense isn’t (clicking),” Blackfoot coach Gerald Humpherys said. “(Hatrock) kind of broke it open in the third quarter. They’re a great team.”

Lake City 56, Blackfoot 33

LAKE CITY

Hatrock 15, Tolzman 6, Kerns 10, Herbert 8, Riggs 6, Dodge 7, Nipp 4.

BLACKFOOT

Evans 4, Cannon 4, Layton 9, Giest 4, Barton 5, Williams 7.

Halftime-Lake City 28, Blackfoot 18

A-3 GIRLS

Fruitland 53, Firth 50

Junior forward Shara Foreman scored 19 points to lead Fruitland past Firth in consolation semifinal play in Boise.

Kimberly 61, Melba 44 Six-foot senior Tracy Arrossa scored 24 points as Kimberly beat Melba in the other consolation game at Capital High.

A-4 GIRLS

Maranatha 46, Oakley 42

Seniors Lila Afoa and Jennifer Wingett combined for 24 points to lead Maranatha past Oakley in consolation semifinal play in Boise.

North Gem 45, Lakeside 42 Junior center Heidi Sant scored 20 points to lead North Gem past Lakeside of Plummer-Worley in a consolation game at Borah High School.