Buratto drops 40 in heartbreaking loss
SANDPOINT — Those wearing green thought the shot beat the buzzer, and those wearing red thought it came late, but in the end, Lakeland left Les Rogers Court with a thrilling 73-71 overtime victory in the 4A Region 1 tournament opener Tuesday night in Sandpoint.
Joel Underdahl came up huge for the No. 3 seeded Hawks (13-8), hitting a fall-away 3-point shot with six seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, then grabbing his 10th rebound and putting back a four foot shot at the buzzer for the winning basket.
Whether the shot beat the buzzer or not was a judgment call and up for dispute, but one thing was certain: Two of the best players in the Inland Empire League put on a high-octane scoring display, with Underdahl finishing with 28 points and Sandpoint’s Stefan Buratto netting 40 in defeat.
“Underdahl was an animal,” said Sandpoint head coach Tyler Haynes. “On the boards, jump shooting, running the floor, he just played fantastic and led them to a hell of a victory.”
Lakeland coach Trent Derrick also had high praise for his senior, and rightfully so after taking and sinking the two biggest shots of the game.
“He played with a lot of confidence at the end,” said Derrick. “You always feel good about a kid with the confidence to take that shot, make it or not.”
The ending overshadowed another stellar scoring night from Buratto, who hit 13 of his 25 field goals and made 14 or 15 free throws, eclipsing 40 points for the second time this season. He finished with six rebounds and four steals, and scored seven of his points in overtime before fouling out with a charge late in the game.
“In 21 years I’ve never seen anything quite like what he does,” said Haynes of his senior guard, failing to comment on the disputed buzzer beater. “It doesn’t matter, the first half dictated the outcome of the game.”
No. 2 Sandpoint (6-15) trailed by 10 at half, but scored the first 12 points of the third quarter to regain the lead. Lakeland then trailed by three points with 16 seconds left in the game, before Underdahl ran off a pick and drained the game-tying 3-pointer with six seconds left on the clock.
Brandon Hawkins had three points, six assists and four steals in defeat, and Brandon Lawrence added nine points.
Kyle English scored 10 and Hunter Arno scored five points to go with eight rebounds and five assists for the Hawks, who travel to No. 1 Moscow on Thursday. The Bulldogs await the loser of that game on Saturday in a loser-our game.
Lakeland 17 22 10 15 9 — 73
Sandpoint 13 16 21 14 7 — 71
LAKELAND — English 12, Arno 5 Whitesitt 0, Davis 7, Cooper 0, Guerber 10, Underdahl 28, Derrick 11.
SANDPOINT — Paull 2, Tucker 8, Lawrence 9, Buratto 40, Olin 3, Hawkins 3, Shultz 6, Fuhrman 0.