Lakeland leaps into 4A in grand fashion

MERIDIAN, Idaho – Steve Seymour’s Lakeland High girls basketball teams have never been known for their shot-making abilities.

The Hawks earn their feathers on defense. They did so again in their State 4A opener Thursday, stalling the Emmett Huskies 55-36 at Mountain View High School.

Lakeland (16-6) will meet District VI champ Bonneville of Idaho Falls (19-5) in the semifinals tonight at 7. In the other semifinal, Minico (21-3) will face Blackfoot (17-10).

In other openers, Minico edged Bishop Kelly 39-37; Blackfoot upset District III champ Skyview 42-31; and Bonneville waltzed past Century 56-42.

Although Lakeland is in its first year in 4A, it is the lone team among the semifinalists to have won a state title in basketball (three in 3A). The Hawks also enjoyed the widest winning margin on the first day.

Lakeland 55, Emmett 36: Although host Mountain View is in its second year and is a state-of-the-art school in many ways, officials may have to replace the baskets after opening-round play.

The rims endured some punishment in the openers, capped by some stretches of bricks thrown up in the nightcap between Emmett and Lakeland.

After a first quarter that ended in an 8-all tie, the Hawks found more of an offensive flow.

Lakeland built a 16-8 lead by the time Emmett made its first basket in the second period – with 3:57 to go before halftime. Had Lakeland shot better than 3 of 16 during the opening minutes of the period, the game would have been put out of reach much sooner.

Still, the Hawks, behind nine points from junior reserve post Bridgett Bohannon, went to the locker room comfortably ahead 27-13.

Emmett pulled within 30-20 less than 3 minutes into the third period when the Hawks committed four unforced turnovers. Fueled by defense again, Lakeland finished the quarter well, outscoring the Huskies 12-3.

The Huskies (20-4) were never closer than 16 points in the final period.

It was Lakeland’s first game in 13 days.

“The first quarter is always going to be a little bit frantic – first game, state tournament, haven’t played in 13 days, yada yada,” Seymour said. “But I thought they regrouped really well. It’s cliché, but we want to start with defense and rebounding.”

The left-handed Bohannon finished with a team-high 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting. She also had four rebounds and two assists. It was the best offensive production for the Hawks based on per-minutes played. Bohannon played 16 minutes.

Both Seymour and Bohannon said it was her best game of the season.

“To have her come in and show no fear,” Seymour said, trailing off as he praised his backup post.

“That’s my best game ever,” Bohannon said. “It was mostly because of Jessie Bartlett. She tells us all we can do it. You just sort of feed off of (her).”

Brigitte Boucher added 10 points in the post for Lakeland along with seven rebounds.

Ashley Beck had a team-high nine rebounds to go with four steals and three assists. Mindy Meyer added nine points and six rebounds for the balanced Hawks.

“We played really, really well defensively,” Meyer said. “Keeping it an up-tempo game is definitely a benefit to us. That’s kind of our game – to push the ball.”

Emmett coach Cheryl Hutchinson said her team had its worst-shooting game of the season. The Huskies made 11 of 48 from the field (1 of 13 on 3-pointers). The poor shooting appeared epidemic as no player found the range.

“We had good effort and we broke the press well. We just couldn’t put the ball in the hole,” Hutchinson said.

“We never shoot the ball that bad. Throughout the season, we’ve been averaging 38 to 40 percent from the field. When you shoot (23) percent, it’s not going to cut it in a state tournament. I’m at a loss for words. Nobody could hit.”