Lakeside heads home empty-handed
CALDWELL, Idaho – After winning its first two games at the State 1A tournament, the Lakeside High boys basketball team believed a state title was within its grasp.
At worst, the Knights needed just one win in their final two games to take home a trophy for a second straight year.
In the span of 18 hours, however, the Knights fell victim to poor shooting, turnovers and spurts of uninspired defense while their opponents capitalized in the final minutes. Consequently, Lakeside headed home Saturday afternoon without a trophy as the Cascade Ramblers captured third place with a 61-57 win at Caldwell HS.
The Knights finish at 23-3.
Cascade (22-6) made 8 of 12 free throws in the final 1 minute, 18 seconds to hold off Lakeside, which committed 24 turnovers.
Lakeside coach Stacey Sonder is a supporter of fastbreak basketball. But not when it results in turnovers or ill-advised shots as it did Saturday.
“We didn’t take care of the ball and we go coast to coast and don’t even set up the offense,” Sonder said. “You just can’t win games when we go coast to coast – one on five (or) one on four.”
Neither team seized momentum for any significant stretches. It appeared Lakeside senior post Arthur Elwell was going to carry his team to victory in the final two quarters after he scored just two points in the first half.
Elwell asserted his presence in the low block in the third quarter, scoring 14 of his game-high 26 points. Twice he muscled in for putbacks and had two more putbacks in the fourth quarter. His basket off his own miss with 1:49 remaining knotted the score at 53-53.
The Knights were forced to put the Ramblers at the free-throw line after Josh Derrick’s two foul shots put Cascade ahead 55-53 with 1:18 to go.
Lakeside wouldn’t have had a chance in the end had Elwell not responded after halftime.
“We needed to get him the ball more,” Sonder said.
Elwell would have gladly taken the ball more, too.
“It was going in. Give me the ball,” Elwell said.
Elwell also pointed some blame toward himself. He made just 2 of 7 free throws and Lakeside finished 8 of 18.
“They (the Ramblers) converted their free throws and it was something I couldn’t do,” said Elwell, who also had 14 rebounds and four blocks.
Elwell said the Knights have plenty to be proud of this season. They went 12-0 in the North Star League and captured a district title. But the way they finished the year will linger for a while.
“It’s pretty disappointing,” Elwell said. “We had so much potential starting (the season).”
Lakeside senior guard Mike Sifford said the Knights were their own worst enemy.
“We weren’t playing to have fun; we were playing not to lose,” said Sifford, who scored 12 points. “We wanted to bring some hardware home pretty bad this year. So it’s kind of been stressful. You don’t want to disappoint anybody or let anybody down. I think we let that get to our heads and kind of overtake us a little bit.
“Stupid turnovers and free throws down the stretch killed us. They’re (Cascade) a good team. I think we were better. But I will give them credit. They’re a good ballclub.”
Troy (26-1) finished the season where it ended in the final rankings – at the top – as the Tigers handled Mackay (21-3) 71-48 in the title game. Nezperce (24-3) took fourth by beating Notus (22-4) 53-51.