Hawks beat Scotties in OT Thriller

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Liam Bradford, Sports Editor

The Lakeland Lady Hawks(4-5) defeated the Freeman Scotties(5-4) 58-57 in their first overtime matchup of the year, in a crucial game against a Washington school. 

The Hawks win was led by a 27-point performance from the lone senior on the roster, Addie Kiefer. Kiefer was involved in nearly every play in the game, and when she wasn’t scoring, she was hustling down the court for a steal or a rebound.

The 27 total points for Kiefer was good enough for her career-high and by far the best all-around game of the season for the senior forward. 

Lakeland did a great job at containing the Scottie’s standout scorers in their first matchup with Freeman in recent years. Coach Aaron Mclean mentioned that Sydney Mclean and Jaycee Goldsmith are the two most efficient scorers on the Freeman offense, and the Hawks held the two of them to 34 points and allowed less than 30 to the rest of the Freeman roster. 

Both of the star players for the Scotties were covered by freshmen for a good portion of the game. Landree Simon started at point guard and covered Mclean for most of the game. Simon did a great job forcing Mclean to pass the ball away and not make more of an impact than she already did.

Jaycee Goldsmith was covered by freshman Ziya Munyer multiple times, who defended the junior forward well. The two freshmen combined for 17 points and were the two highest scorers aside from Kiefer. 

Down the stretch, the Hawks were able to force multiple missed shots in significant opportunities. Despite shooting just 8 for 45 from the free-throw line, Lakeland achieved an important victory in a back and forth nail-biter game. 

The Lady Hawks will play next on Jan. 6 in a road game against the Sandpoint Bulldogs.