The first game of high school basketball means one of the most beloved sports worldwide has returned. The Lakeland Hawks boys’ basketball team has been waiting all fall to get back on the court.
LHS (1-0) played its season opener against Kellogg (0-1) on Nov 28.
After dropping both games with Kellogg last season, Lakeland ended up winning 67-40, starting the season strong and boosting confidence for the players.
“We are more focused as a team this year,” junior Gabe Harris said.
Going in with confidence, LHS believed that they could win the highly anticipated rematch with the Wildcats.
Showing Kellogg up in the first quarter, LHS took the lead by 10. Kellogg was unprepared for the firepower the Hawks began the season with.
Harris led the Hawks with 15 points, and Junior Mason Hensley added 13.
Kellogg stayed in the game as long as they could, but the Hawks began to step on the gas in the second quarter. They extended their lead even further and went into the half confident and ready to finish it off in the second half.
Overall, Kellogg struggled to keep pace with their team from last season without the Luna twins. This season-opening victory resembles Lakeland’s position as a force to be reckoned with in North Idaho.
Lakeland grew their lead to about 25 points in the third, and Harris went on a streak of five lay-ups in a row. The Hawks did not let off the gas for a moment in the second half and finished the game with a 27 point margin of victory.
This game made the Hawks believe that they could have a solid chance to make another appearance at state this year.
“We had some mistakes on defense, and we could work on teamwork,” Harris said.
Just because Lakeland won by a substantial amount, this game was a crucial stepping stone towards improvement because the first game of the year always presents obstacles. The players have stressed that they could work on some crucial defense fundamentals.
“We were very sloppy this game… we should have had fewer turnovers,” Hensley said.
While a season-opening victory is a great start to build off of moving forward, the Hawks know that they will have to beat higher levels of competition once league play begins.
The Hawks next game and home-opener will be Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. against the East Valley Knights. The game will be live streamed on YouTube on “Hello Hawks.”
