Jerome outlasts Lakeland for 3rd
Hawks’ Reynolds scores 21 in last game
MERIDIAN, Idaho – The easy explanation is the Lakeland High girls basketball team left everything on the court the night before, when the Hawks came within a whisker of advancing to the State 4A championship game.
Still, Lakeland was every bit in the game for third place Saturday morning. But Jerome pulled away in the fourth quarter in a 69-52 decision at Mountain View High School.
Lakeland coach Steve Seymour didn’t take the easy out in talking about the loss, though.
“A little bit of it is a carryover,” Seymour said. “It’s always tough to come back and play (morning) games, but they (Jerome) had to do it and they had to do it on less sleep than we did.”
After rallying to tie the score at 26 by halftime, Lakeland (16-9) watched Jerome (22-5) dominate the second half, outscoring the Hawks 43-26.
Lakeland was within eyesight of the Tigers going into the fourth period (48-42) despite the fact that Jerome used an 11-5 run to begin separating at the end of the third.
Jerome’s lead quickly shot to double digits, and this time Lakeland didn’t have a fourth-quarter rally.
“I think we were a little tired,” Seymour said. “It was a good game for three quarters, maybe even for four quarters. Aubree Callen is a great player and we lost track of her, and when we did know where she was she still made plays.”
Callen finished with a game-high 24 points, plus nine rebounds and four assists.
Lakeland’s usual leader, four-year letterman Camille Reynolds, had a team-high 21 points. She also had seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
“This is definitely the best group of girls I’ve played with,” Reynolds said. “My best friends and (we had) so much heart on the team. Nobody ever gave up. It’s the greatest group of girls you’ll find in your life.”
The Hawks were left to wonder what could have been after leading in the late stages the night before in regulation before losing in overtime.
“They know how close they were and it was tough for them,” Seymour said. “It shouldn’t take away from what they were able to do this year. They did a lot of good things.”