Bulldogs fall to Hawks, 72-43

RATHDRUM — After hot-shooting Lakeland jumped out to an 11-3 lead over Sandpoint after 4 1/2 minutes Tuesday night, the Hawks saw a defense in which they were unfamiliar.

After all, “When was the last time Lakeland saw a box-and-one?” wondered Hawks coach Dave Stockwell. “It’s been a while.”

Sandpoint’s defense — first geared to slow down guard Matt Horne, then guard Tyrel Derrick — worked for the rest of the half. Sandpoint cut a 16-point Lakeland lead down to eight, and trailed by 10 at halftime.

But Lakeland made the adjustments in the second half and Sandpoint had a disastrous third quarter as the No. 2-seeded Hawks rolled to a 72-43 victory over the No. 3 Bulldogs in the first round of the 4A Region 1 boys basketball tournament at Hawk Court.

“I thought they handled it quite well,” Sandpoint coach Tyler Haynes said. “Clearly they made really good adjustments at halftime — coach Stockwell certainly had them where they needed to be — and they came out and played just an outstanding second half. We couldn’t counter them.”

Lakeland (11-10) travels to top-seeded Moscow (14-5) on Thursday in the semifinal game. The loser plays host to Sandpoint (2-19) next Tuesday.

Horne hit a couple of 3-pointers in the first quarter for Lakeland, which was 9 of 12 from the field — 4 of 7 from 3-point land — in the quarter and led 22-8. Lakeland led 26-10 early in the second quarter before Sandpoint started chipping away led by Jeremiah Gagnon, who scored seven of his 10 points in the quarter.

Sandpoint had more turnovers (six) than points (five) in the quarter.

“They got nearly every 50/50 ball; they got to the boards harder, ” Haynes said.

Scott Simpson and reserve Jack Millsap led Lakeland with 14 points each. Opland finished with 11 points, Horne and Derrick 10 each.

Sandpoint shot 15 of 49 from the field, compared to 30 of 55 for Lakeland.

Sandpoint   8   18   5   12 — 43

Lakeland   22   14  20  16 — 72

SANDPOINT — Jurenka 2, Rodriguez 5, Couch 2, Silberman 0, Schwartz 4, Nelson 3, Burgstahler 9, Gagnon 10, Edwards 6, Alsager 0, Lutz 2.

LAKELAND — Opland 11, Horne 10, Carr 3, Derrick 10, Millsap 14, Stanford 2, Dove 4, Simpson 14, McCabe 4, Piva 0.