Photo by Sam Thiel Lakeview’s Payton Timm shoots a 3-pointer during their Section 3A tournament game against Lac qui Parle Valley on Monday. The Lakers defeated the Eagles 62-47.

MARSHALL — The first half of Monday’s Section 3A tournament game between the second-seeded Lakeview and third-seeded Lac qui Parle Valley girls basketball teams was like a classic tango. The second half? A little more salsa.

Trailing by one point heading into halftime, the Lakers knew they needed to shake things up if they were going to keep their season alive. Lakeview did just that, as a stellar second-half defensive performance helped turn the tide and give the Lakers a 62-47 victory over the Eagles.

Lakers coach Mike Imes felt that was one of the best performances he’s seen this season from his group.

“I thought our kids by far played probably the best game they’ve played all season. We started out in a 10-0 hole and the first time on this court in that situation, these kids have not been in a semifinal game, so we called timeout and tried to settle them down a bit,” coach Imes said. “From that point on, I think they started to believe but as the first half went on you could tell our intensity picked up, our attitudes picked up and it was just an extremely solid performance, especially on the defensive end.”

This is also the first time in program history that Lakeview has won back-to-back postseason games and reached the sub-section championship game.

Overcoming

a cold start

The Lakers weren’t able to get into a rhythm right away, as Lakeview went scoreless for the first six minutes of the game before Kiana Imes got a layup to go to get the Lakers on the board. Meanwhile, the Eagles started out red-hot, as Macie Lund scored the first five points of the game before a 3-pointer gave LQPV a 10-2 lead.

In need of a spark, the Lakers slowly worked their way back within striking distance, as a 3-pointer from Savanna Louwagie, a layup from Kaitlynn Bot and a free throw from Kiana Imes made it a one-point game at 14-13 with 8:51 left in the first half.

Back and forth the two teams went, with neither side allowing any sort of momentum. Bot and Shelby Gravley would provide a spark for Lakeview with consecutive layups to give the Lakers a 24-19 lead with under five minutes to play, but the Eagles responded with a 7-0 run of their own to take the lead back. Savannah Rausch would get the Lakers back to within two on a floater before Louwagie made it a one-point game with a triple. Rausch connected on a shot to give Lakeview the lead with less than 30 seconds left, but LQPV was able to beat the buzzer with a basket to take a 33-32 lead at the break.

Defensive lockdown

With both sides looking to grab control of the momentum, the Lakers struck first when Payton Timm got a jumper to go before Aubrey Kaczmarek connected on a 3-pointer to make it 44-35 with 11 minutes left.

Unlike the tight play in the first half, the Lakers were able to create a little separation thanks to some stifling defensive efforts combined with not committing many fouls. Coach Imes said the biggest key during that stretch was just playing with a ton of heart and energy.

“I honestly think it was all heart and energy. That was our talk at halftime, there’s 18 minutes to go for them to play in a sub-section championship game, it’s all about what team wants it more, who has the biggest heart and I challenged them,” coach Imes said. “They were in a position to put their school in a position they’ve never been in, we’ve never been in a sub-section championship game girls-wise. I think they bought into that and really worked their tails off and our defense started turning into offense and I think we just wore them down a little bit with our depth.”

Holding the Eagles to just 11 points through a 16-minute stretch and just 15 second-half points total, the Lakers took full command of the pace and led by as many as 18 before clinching the 62-47 victory.

Kiana Imes led the way for the Lakers with 13 points while Bot and Gravley each added 10 and Louwagie and Kaczmarek each had nine. Gravley led in rebounds with 15 while Imes, Bot and Jaci Hubbard led in assists with two each.

Up next

Lakeview (20-7) will face Minneota in the Section 3A North Championship game on Friday at 8 p.m.