The Lakeland Lady Hawks defeated the Timberlake Lady Tigers 55-49 on Nov. 18. Unlike their season opener, the Hawks competed in an extremely tight battle on Thursday night against the Tigers and eeked out a rivalry win to bring Lakeland’s record to 1-1. 

Addie Kiefer led the Hawk’s offense with 22 points and rose to the occasion under the pressure of being the only senior on the current Lakeland roster. Kenna Simon also provided quality minutes and 18 points before going down with a scary injury in the third quarter. 

The Timberlake defense was led by Ciara Soumas, who recorded nearly ten steals and added 13 points. Soumas alone kept the Tigers in the games multiple times with clutch defensive saves. Jenna Ladke-Chase was the second-leading scorer for the Tigers with 8 points of her own. 

Timberlake led 31-28 at halftime, but the Hawk’s offense found a rhythm in the second half and finished the game on top. Kenna Simon went down with an injury in the third quarter, a sight that left the crowd speechless as the electric crowd quickly was silenced. 

Lakeland guard Payton Sterling was in good spirits after the game and said, “Today was a much better overall performance than our first game, and we have already improved a lot since just earlier this week.” Sterling only played one half against Lake City but provided quality minutes and defensive energy against the Tigers. 

Addie Kiefer and Kenna Simon scored the majority of the points for the Hawks down the stretch as they outlasted the Tigers. The Hawks play next after Thanksgiving break, and all games will be broadcasted on the Hello Hawks youtube channel, brought to you by the Lakeland journalism department.