The winter sports season has arrived. 

Cold weather means basketball season for the Lakeland Hawks. 

To kick off the season, a jamboree will be held against Kellogg and St. Maries for the boy’s varsity team on Monday, November 22, in Rathdrum, Idaho. 

“I think we’ll beat both teams. It will be a good way to see how we’re playing together,” said senior Nick Nowell. 

Lakeland hopes to bounce back from the 2021-22 season, as they finished with a losing record of 8-11. The Hawks struggled during conference games(3-5)and placed fifth in the 5A/4A Inland Empire League. 

Intensity has been increasing at practices, and the ability to communicate has grown in the short amount of time the boys have had. 

As always, a highly anticipated matchup for Lakeland will be the Sandpoint Bulldogs, a long-time rival. 

Last season, Lakeland lost to Sandpoint by two points in double overtime, allowing Sandpoint to move on and play Moscow in districts. This was a tough loss for the team as they had previously beaten the Bulldogs on two occasions in the same season. One of these occasions was the Hawks’ dominating victory in front of a home crowd during the Battle for the Paddle. 

Caysen Loutzenhiser, Lakeland’s power forward, said, “I’m most looking forward to Battle for the Paddle in January against Sandpoint and districts.”

“My season expectations are for us to win districts and then to hopefully win at State. I will be looking forward to when I’m back to playing and dominating,” closed Loutzenhiser, who is battling an ACL injury for the foreseeable future. 

Following Monday’s jamboree, Lakeland’s first regular season game will take place on December 2 at East Valley High School in Spokane, WA.