The last two seasons of Lakeland Hawks basketball have highlighted the importance of getting hot at the right time.
The 2022-23 Lakeland Hawks won three regular-season games but worked their way from the bottom seed in the league to district champs and state participants.
The 2023-24 Lakeland Hawks tripled their regular season win total from the season prior with a 9-11 record. After securing the second seed in the 4A IEL, the Hawks (9-12, 1-4) lost 64-62 at home to the Sandpoint Bulldogs (11-12, 3-3) in the district play-in game, abruptly ending the Hawks’ season.
“We looked really good at the start of the season, but we slowly declined throughout the rest of the year, kind of the opposite of what we did last year,” senior Kenton Ferguson said. “This team had a lot more talent than last season, but it didn’t happen for us.”
Lakeland played significantly better this season against teams outside the 4A IEL, including a win against East Valley, Lewiston, Priest River, Timberlake, Skyline, Timberlake and two against Kellogg. Beating Skyline in the South Idaho Christmas tournament was one of the Hawks’ key wins.
The Hawks lost both games to the Moscow Bears, including a double-overtime loss at home. Ferguson sent the game to double-overtime with a series of stepback threes, each deeper than the last, but Moscow shut down the Lakeland offense to seal the win.
The Hawks went 1-1 in the regular season against Sandpoint, including a home win at Battle for the Paddle.
“I feel like I had a decent impact on the team coming into a starting role,” junior Mason Hensley said. “The season as a whole was disappointing because we went from 6-2 to 9-12; It was a pretty bitter way to end the year. We have to work harder as a whole next season because this team wasted a lot of potential.”
Lakeland has a high-powered offense that is generated by the starting guards, Hensley and Ferguson. Senior forward Ben Ryan plays a key role on both sides of the ball and is a consistent scorer and rebounder. Gabe Harris was one of the team’s top scorers and played with an unmatched energy at all times. Junior Ben Roth was one of the most efficient scorers and sophomore Peyton Hillman emerged as one of the team’s sharpshooters.
Though the Hawks saw significant improvements in their regular-season performance compared to last season, the lack of star power caused the Hawks to fall short in districts.
“Last year’s team took too long to gel compared to this team that had a lot of chemistry, but in the end, the ball just didn’t go our way against Sandpoint, and that just happens sometimes,” Hensley said.
Moving into next season, the Hawks will likely start Harris, Hensley, Brayden Carrel, Ben Roth and Hillman. Head coach Tony Hanna and his experienced team will look to build off of a good season and continue to create a winning culture in the Lakeland basketball program.
