The Lakeland Hawks (14-11, 4-5) finished their season after a tough 56-44 loss in the 4A Idaho third-place game against the Pocatello Thunder (19-6,4-0).
Though the Hawks season ended, they still made a great run and a bit of history.
Junior guard Landree Simon led her team through the season, averaging 17.2 points per game and earning the Inland Empire League co-player of the year award. Simon is one of the top players in the state and even qualified for the second team all-state team in 4A.
The Hawks had finally broken the curse and had won the district title for the first time since the 2018-2019 season. This also would be their first trip down to state under new coach Tyrell Derrick.
Before the season started, Coach Derrick had many goals and tasks that he wanted his team to work on to have the most success possible this season.
The Hawks had a respectable 4-5 record in conference play and somehow fought through adversity and beat the defending state champions, the Sandpoint Bulldogs, two out of three to advance to the state championship.
The Hawks upheld a 3-5 home record, a phenomenal 9-2 away record, and a respectable 2-4 neutral record. Having a .715 road-winning percentage is a significant advantage to have.
“I would say that defense and hard work got us through one of those tough games on the road, and our record showed,” assistant coach Caelyn Caulfield said.
With such a young team and only three graduating seniors, the Hawks have a lot of youth in the program, and coach Derrick is excited about the results of such a young group of girls. The future is bright for the Hawks and after taking the district title home this year, next year is looking bright for the Hawks.
“I think that the future is very bright for all of the young girls. By going to state this year, it sets the tone and shows the younger girls what it takes to get there,” Simon said.
The Hawks had many good games throughout the season, and the team they battled with the most was their conference rival, the Bulldogs. Throughout the season, the Hawks faced off against their rivals two ties, losing both games, 50-53 and 41-49.
“All three of the teams lose some very experienced players, but I think Moscow and Sandpoint will also be a team like us, with a lot of youth, and I expect them to both still be good,” Simon said.
As for the other league matchup, the Moscow Bears, the Hawks never have a problem matching up against the Bears. The Hawks saw the Bears two times in the regular season and once in the district tournament, winning all three.
“Though we struggled sometimes on offense, we always played good defense, so that allowed us to get easy fast-break baskets and transitions baskets,” Caulfield said.
The starting five throughout the season mainly stayed the same. However, there were some games where matchups were different, but the starting five usually consisted of Karsten Kiefer, Payton Sterling, Lila Kiefer, Landree Simon and Kyla Holte.
Simon led the Hawks in points per game with 19.1 and also led the team in field goal percentage, shooting 47% from the field.
For the Hawks, the future is looking bright for them, and the impact that coach Derrick is making is impactful. Though the season just ended, the off-season starts right now.
