The Lakeland Hawks (3-3) girl’s basketball team hosted the Coeur D’Alene Vikings (7-2) on Dec. 12. The Vikings took the 72-45 victory after a dominant third quarter.
Lakeland started the game off strong with a dominant first-quarter effort. Lakeland played with confidence and intensity in the first half. Their hot start was led by impeccable play on both sides of the ball from the starting five.
In comparison to their comeback effort against Lewiston, head coach Tyrel Derrick’s team kept up for two quarters and was able to keep the game pretty even.
Landree Simon scored two three-point shots in the first quarter, with additional support coming from Payton Sterling, drawing a lot of attention from beyond the arc. In the second quarter, Lila Kiefer made two three-pointers and scored 10 points in a dominant effort to keep the Vikings on their toes.
On the other side of the ball, senior guard and UNLV Runnin’ Rebels commit Teagan Colvin scored eight points in the first half and was an excellent facilitator, dishing dimes all game long. She scored nine in the second half, and the assists did not slow down.
In the third quarter, Colvin scored the 1500th point of her high school basketball career, and a timeout was called by the Vikings to celebrate this incredible milestone.
Madison Mitchell led the Vikings with 23 points, including four threes.
Going into halftime, Lakeland was keeping pace with the reigning 5A state champions, trailing just 28-24.
“We had a lot of intensity in the first half,” Simon said.
The Vikings began to blow it open in the third quarter, outscoring the Hawks 27-5.
Lakeland let the first few opposing scores get to them and fell behind quickly, only scoring 11 in the second half. Many of these points came after Colvin was subbed out for a much-needed break.
The game ended with a 27-point margin of victory in favor of the Vikings. Lakeland held in there for as long as possible, but the Vikings’ firepower was too strong for them.
“We lost our intensity in the second half, and they were able to get into the lead,” Simon said.
Going into this game, Lakeland knew it would be challenging facing the former state champions, but they played an impressive first half.
“I feel that we just need to work on keeping our intensity for all four quarters,” Simon said.
Lakeland has put this game behind them and is looking forward to their game against Lake City.
