Bulldogs fall short in intense battle with Lakeland

SANDPOINT — Emotions were high for Thursday's boys basketball game between Sandpoint and Lakeland at Les Rogers Court.

The intensity on the court was palpable and the fans in the stands ramped it up to an even higher level.

In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs showed a lot of heart and never gave up, but the Hawks were able to survive their struggles at the free-throw line down the stretch and escape with a 71-64 win.

Two weeks prior, Sandpoint lost by 23 at Lakeland. On Thursday, the Bulldogs went toe-to-toe with the talented Hawks and hung with them from start to finish.

Interim head coach Mike Roos said it all started clicking against Lakeland.

"We finally put a game together," Mike Roos said. "I told them before the game, 'Give me four quarters. If you give me quarters, you'll be in this game the entire game,' and we had a couple slips here and there but we recovered right away. They did not hang their heads for a moment and just kept our defensive pressure and our offensive flow going, and it was fun to see."

Entering the fourth quarter, Sandpoint trailed by 12 points. They slowly chipped away at that deficit and got it to five points with 2:38 left.

Some missed free throws from the Hawks thanks in part to a rowdy Sandpoint student section allowed the Bulldogs to stay in it late. Senior guard Darren Bailey buried a 3-pointer with 18.9 seconds left to make it 67-64, but SHS couldn't complete the comeback.

Sandpoint led 9-7 after the first quarter, but Lakeland outscored them 29-13 in the second to take a 14-point advantage into halftime.

Mike Roos said his team executed really well down the stretch.

"I think they handled the pressure," he said. "We got good shots all the way up until the very end."

Colin Roos led the team with 21 points, five rebounds and two blocks. Ethan Butler, Randy Lane and Bailey each scored eight points.

Mike Roos said his team is starting to believe.

"Lakeland's a good team, no doubt," he said. "They're big, they're physical, but we just went and kept grinding and grinding, and stayed with it."

The Bulldogs (4-9, 0-7 IEL) head to Moscow at 3 p.m. Saturday.

"The boys, they do everything I ask to the best of their ability," Mike Roos said, "and now we're starting to roll a little bit, so we just need to keep going."

Lakeland 7 29 17 18 — 71

Sandpoint 9 13 19 23 — 64

LAKELAND — Seay 16, Henry 6, Ab. Munyer 6, Am. Munyer 2, Haaland 15, Roth 4, Waddington 0, Skalskiy 22.

SANDPOINT — Roos 21, Pettit 5, Frank 3, R. Lee 5, VanDenBerg 4, Bailey 8, S. Lee 2, Lane 8, Butler 8.