Photo by Jake Przytarski Lakeview’s Parker Hoffman drives around a CMCS defender during the second half of Tuesday’s Camden Conference Championship game. The Bluejays defeated the Lakers 79-63.

COTTONWOOD — In its first appearance in the Camden Conference title game since the 2005-2006 season, the Lakeview boys basketball team ran into a buzzsaw in the form of sharp-shooting Central Minnesota Christian Tuesday afternoon. The Bluejays — representing the north division — knocked down 13 3-pointers and shot 72% from beyond the arc to earn the conference crown in a 79-63 final.

Lakeview coach Jared Keaveny tipped his cap to both teams and came away especially proud of the way his team continued to battle despite facing a large deficit late in the contest.

“We sure played hard. That was two teams really going after each other. It was physical, it was strong and neither team backed down. Both communities should be pretty proud of their teams because both teams really came to play,” said Keaveny. “Even when we had a big deficit, we still kept playing so I was really proud of the guys for the way they never gave up.”

Trips down the floor without a made basket were a rarity early on in the first half as both teams were dialed in offensively from the opening tip. Despite the frantic back and forth pace, it was the Bluejays who held the slight edge on the scoreboard at 10-6 before pusing their lead to 16-11 moments later.

Led by double-digit scorers Aaron Loe and Billy Errington who combined for 16 of the team’s 20 points midway through the half, the Lakers outscored the Bluejays 9-6 and came within two points of tying the game at 22-20.

Keaveny lauded the two seniors for their performance and said he expects it in a big game like this one.

“That’s what seniors have to do. In big games like this, seniors have to step up and take charge,” said Keaveny. “Billy had a great game down low. He played very physical, very aggressive and Aaron was outstanding tonight (as well). I was really proud of those guys for just continuing to look for their shot, handling the physicality and keep making plays. So that’s what seniors have to do when you’re having a nice season like we are and hopefully that can continue.”

Down the stretch of the first half, the Bluejays maintained their scoring touch and continued to make the Lakers pay from beyond the arc. With the Lakers unable to keep up, CMCS grew its lead to double digits for the first time in the waning minutes of the first half, but went on to hold an eight-point advantage at halftime at 43-35.

Though the team tried to make adjustments to limit CMCS’s damage from the 3-point line, Keaveny admitted that there was very little that they could do to stop them.

“We wanted to try to stretch them out a little bit and Billy (Errington) didn’t have any fouls so we really wanted to stretch them out, but we got sucked in a couple of times and they made some quick kick outs and hit those threes,” said Keaveny. “When they shoot that well, that’s tough to defend. There wasn’t a whole lot that we could do.”

When play resumed for the second half, the Bluejays quickly made it a double-digit game again at 46-35 following a made 3-pointer, and went on to hold their largest lead to that point at 55-37 following a 12-2 run. After strengthening their lead to 20 moments later at 59-39, Lakeview’s Jackson Klocow provided a desperately-needed spark for the Lakers with a pair of made shots from beyond the arc to go along with a basket by Loe to make it a 15-point game at 62-47.

The Lakers continued to battle late in the second half in the hopes of mounting a comeback, but the pursuit fell short as the Bluejays had an answer for nearly every made basket in a 79-63 final.

Earning the No. 6 seed in the north subsection of Section 3A, Lakeview (17-8) will take on No. 3 seed Lac qui Parle Valley on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Montevideo. Keaveny hopes the big game experience of playing in the Camden Conference Championship will help them in the section tournament.

“The nice thing is is you’re seeing a playoff atmosphere. This is what it’s going to be like on Saturday,” said Keaveny. “Both teams are going to go at it because it is do or die and now the guys have got that game under their belt. The guys have now seen that extra level of intensity becasue it always gets picked up in the playoffs, so hopefully the guys will step up their game and make those little adjustments and correct those mistakes.”

CMCS 79, Lakeview 63

CMCS 43 36 — 79

Lakeview 35 28 — 63

Overall FG percentage: Lakeview 36% (21-59); CMCS 59% (27-46)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

SCORING: Lakeview (Loe 9-20 8-10 28, Errington 7-14 0-3 14, Klocow 3-5 0-0 9, Marczak 2-13 0-0 6, Hoffman 0-4 6-6 6)

REBOUNDING: Lakeview 25 (Errington 9, Loe 7, Hoffman 4, Marczak 3, Grube, Caron 1)

ASSISTS: Lakeview 19 (Hoffman 5, Loe, Grube 3, Louwagie, Marczak, Klocow 2, Errington, Caron 1)

STEALS: Lakeview 8 (Louwagie 3, Marczak 2, Loe, Errington, Hoffman 1)

BLOCKS: Lakeview 0