The Lakeland Hawks (4-2) faced off against the Moscow Bears (3-3) on Dec. 16, and were defeated 85-82.
This game had a combined score of 168 points and was nothing short of an amazing game.
Kenton Ferguson led both teams in points going for 29. Gabe Harris was right behind him with 19. Ben Ryan had 10 points along with 10 rebounds going for a double-double.
The Hawks were favored going into this game by roughly 20 points. The Bears embarrassed the challenge and did not disappoint to compete with the Hawks.
The first quarter started and both teams were just playing good and complete basketball. The Hawks outscored the Bears 16-14 and were confident going into the second quarter.
“I didn’t expect them to come out like that, but we were ready,” Ferguson said. “I mean we weren’t playing as well as we could, but we were playing good enough to be leading.”
As the second quarter started, the Hawks picked up right where they left off. They were finding ways to stop the Bears defensively and getting critical stops.
“I was amazed on how both teams were playing honestly, I mean we were like playing good but it just felt like Moscow was playing better,” Sophomore Jaron Yager said.
The Hawks outscored the Bears 19-12. Going into the break, the Hawks had a 35-30 lead over the Bears.
After the break, the Hawks came out flat-footed and with a lack of effort. The Bears were scoring at will, but the Hawks didn’t give up and were ready for the challenge. The Bears outscored the Hawks 19-14.
“As a team, we always struggle after halftime, I don’t know why we do but we just always struggle and they took advantage of our weaknesses,” Junior, Lovie Weil said.
The Hawks had to fight through quite a bit of adversity after coming out of the break.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Hawks were tied with the Bears 49-49. Both teams were playing excellent defense and offense. Any spectator could observe that.
“As much as this game was just neck and neck the whole time, we weren’t playing as well as we could,” Weil said. “We were still competing with them and that’s all that matters in the long run.”
At the end of regulation, both teams were tied up at 67 apiece. The Hawks found themselves in their second overtime game all season.
“Emotions were high and it was just an insane experience, I mean this was a huge game because it was a district game,” Ferguson said.
Entering the first overtime, both teams were just playing flat-out lockdown defense. Both teams scored eight points and just like that, the game went into double overtime.
Ferguson scored 18 of his 29 points off of three-pointers. Ferguson also hit most of his threes in clutch moments when the team needed it most. He was hitting any shot he took and his confidence was right where it needed to be in order to take his game to the next level.
Double overtime started and both teams were continuing to play phenomenal basketball. Unfortunately, the Hawks fell short of victory.
Both teams played great and have a long season ahead of them.
