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PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Lakeview drops tight contest, 53-50

Photo by Brennen Rupp Lakeview’s Isaac Loe brings the ball upcourt against Red Rock Central Saturday. The Lakers fell 53-50.

MARSHALL – The Lakeview Lakers fought until the clock hit zero but in the end Lakeview’s valiant effort wasn’t enough, as they fell to Red Rock Rock Central 53-50.

Darrien Wallin controlled the game’s opening tip and raced down floor for an easy layup to give the Lakers the early lead. With the Lakers leading 4-2, the Falcons went on an 8-0 run to take a 10-4 lead. The Falcons would hold the lead the rest of the way and go up by as many as 10 points in the second half.

“We told the guys that we’re proud of their effort,” said Lakeview coach Jared Keaveny. “They battled hard. We had a lot of fight. We got down by ten and continued to fight. In the previous game we had a lead and we kind of sat back on our heels. In this game we looked to make plays. We’re moving in the right direction and we’re progressing. It’s too bad that we came out on this end, but it’s an improvement.”

Both teams struggled to find their offensive groove in the first half. With the game tied at 15, the Falcons closed out the first half on a 7-3 run to take a 22-18 lead into the locker room. Keaveny said his team needed to have better ball movement in the first half.

“Their length is going to cause a lot of problems for a lot of teams,” he said. “I think we held the ball too long in the first half and allowed them to get into position. In the second half we moved the ball a lot better. We got in the gaps and created some easier shots. I think we played a lot better on offense in the second half. We have to do that for a full game.”

After trailing by as many as ten points, the Lakers were able to trim Red Rock Central’s lead to two. With the Falcons holding a 52-50 lead and possession of the basketball, the Lakers were in need of a big defensive stop with under a minute left in the game. Kailen French came up with that stop by drawing a charge to give the Lakers possession of the basketball with 38.9 seconds remaining in the game. Drawing the charge was one of many plays that the Lakers’ sixth man made throughout the game. French scored nine points and dished out three assists on the afternoon.

“That’s nothing new to us,” said Keaveny. “Kailen is such a hard worker. He’s done an outstanding job for us this year. He does all the little things for us. He’s the guy that does the dirty work. He’s going to dive on the floor and pick up the energy. What he does doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, and you can’t put a value on that.”

Unfortunately for the Lakeview faithful, the Lakers were unable to tie the game up on the next possession, as Wallin’s hook shot bounced out. After the Falcons split a pair of free throws, a Jarod Goepferich 3-pointer came up short.

The loss dropped the Lakers to 8-9 overall. They’ll travel to Granite Falls on Thursday to take on Yellow Medicine East. The Lakers won the first meeting 71-46.

“We want to see continued improvement,” said Keaveny. “We’ve been doing it all year, we’ve just come up a couple plays short. We need to eliminate those one or two tiny little mistakes. When you look at our schedule it’s just been a couple plays and if we make those plays we could be looking at a different record. We just need to continue to get better and I’ve seen the character of these guys and we’re going to do it.”

Lakeview 18 32-50

RRC 22 31-53

SCORING: Lakeview 19-40, 47 percent (Wallin 13; Loe 10; French 9; T. Varpness 8; Goepferich 6).

3-POINT FG: Lakeview 5 (Loe, T. Varpness 2; Wallin 1).

REBOUNDS: Lakeview 26 (Wallin 6; Two with 4).

ASSISTS: Lakeview 11 (French 3; Three with 2).

STEALS: Lakeview 2.

BLOCKS: Lakeview 2.

FOULS: Lakeview 17

TURNOVERS: Lakeview 15

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