Bulldogs end season with tough one-point loss
(Photo by JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY) Senior T.J. Davis elevates for a jumper as the Bulldogs and Hawks tipped off the district tournament with a tight loser-out game Monday night at NIC.
COEUR d’ALENE — Lakeland hadn’t used the full-court press much during the season — in part because, as its coach admitted, the Hawks had been too far down for it to matter.
But the Hawks’ pressure came in handy Monday night.
No. 2 seed Lakeland turned the last quarter and a half into a frantic chaos, and rallied from 10 points down to beat the No. 3 Sandpoint Bulldogs 51-50 in the loser-out first round of the 4A Region 1 boys basketball tournament Monday night at North Idaho College’s Rolly Williams Court.
Jalen Skalskiy’s tipin sat on the rim momentarily, before finally crawling over and through the net with 10 seconds left, for what turned out to be the winning points for the Hawks.
“Sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Lakeland coach Dave Stockwell said. “The kids gave it all they had, we got the ball in the hole, we got a couple of steals, a couple rebounds, and luckily they missed some free throws.”
Lakeland (13-7) will play No. 1 seed Moscow (8-13) on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at NIC in the first game of a best-of-3 series to determine the region’s lone berth to state next week.
It was a heartbreaking loss for Sandpoint (6-16), which controlled the tempo most of the game, and led for most of the second half before the pressure ultimately took its toll.
“Tonight it (the press) saved our butts,” Stockwell said. “They had us. They controlled the tempo.”
Sandpoint went 1 for 9 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs led 43-33 after T.J. Davis scored on the press-breaker early in the fourth quarter.
But Lakeland kept chipping away, pulling within 47-45 on Ben Zubaly’s 3-point play with 2:51 left. The Hawks took the lead when Dylan Knight zipped a pass to Nathan Johnson underneath for a layin to make it 49-48 with 1 minute left.
Alex Stockton scored on the press break for Sandpoint some 10 seconds later. Lakeland missed a 3, Sandpoint rebounded but lost the ball. Zubaly’s reverse layin try was off the mark, but the left-handed Skalskiy was there for the tipin.
Sandpoint rushed the ball up the floor but lost control and Lakeland recovered the ball.
Zubaly, a sophomore reserve, led Lakeland with 11 points.
Robbie Johnson, playing gamely on a gimpy ankle, led Sandpoint with 14 points and six rebounds. Stockton added 13 points.
The first half was a game of runs.
Lakeland, starting off with 3s from Knight and Vahey, scored the game’s first eight points.
Sandpoint closed the quarter with a 7-0 run to trail 16-14.
Lakeland scored the first seven points of the second quarter. Sandpoint answered with six straight, then closed the half with a 6-0 run, capped by a 3 from the left wing by Bruin Jones with 6 seconds left that tied the game at 26 at intermission.
Sandpoint 14 12 13 11 — 50
Lakeland 16 10 7 18 — 51
SANDPOINT — Niemala 0, Davis 11, Jones 8, Johnson 14, Casey 4, Stockton 13, Roos 0.
LAKELAND — Taylor 1, Zubaly 11, Johnson 10, Knight 10, Vahey 5, Davis 5, Skalskiy 6, Haaland 3.