Canby steals road win from Lakeview
Lakers’ 33 second-half points not enough, Lancers win 49-47
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COTTONWOOD - The Lakeview Lakers second-half comeback effort fell short as the Canby Lancers were able to steal a 49-47 road win Tuesday night.
The game came down to free throws at the end, and Canby was able to knock theirs down. Brynn Kockelman knocked down a 3-point shot to take a 45-42 lead for Canby in the final two minutes and the Lancers never let the Lakers retake control.
"She better not pass it up," Canby head coach Jeff Thovson said of his thoughts when Kockelman took the go-ahead shot. "I don't think she shot the ball well tonight, but you can't pass up good looks just because you're not making them. She missed a ton early and she made the one we needed."
Kockelman finished the game shooting 3-8 from 3-point range with 11 points.
Canby's strength was its offensive balance. Paige Nelson also had 11 points for the Lancers, but otherwise, their offense was decentralized, coming from all over rather than a select few.
Kortney Leppke did a little bit of everything for the Lancers. She scored 8 points and she led the team with six rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.
"Kortney is a huge part of this team because she can do so many things," Thovson said. "She can handle the job fairly well so she was up helping break the press every once in a while. If she can control the boards and the players around her can box out and help control the boards, that would be huge for us and something we have to work on."
Still, the Lakers didn't go down without a fight. They trailed by 4 points in the final minute, but some clutch free throws from Aleiah Rosenau and a deep 3-pointer from Korysa Herrick with 12 seconds left brought the Lakers back within one.
Yet, they were unable to get off an intentional foul until only 3.4 seconds remained on the clock. While Canby missed the second, Lakeview was out of timeouts and was unable to advance the ball close enough to score before time expired.
Canby built up their lead with their careful possession of the ball in the first half. They led by 6 points at the break and held Lakeview to 14 points.
Still, the Lakeview press wore down the Lancers and forced a series of turnovers. Canby led by as many as 8 points in the second half, but a series of turnovers leading to transition buckets allowed the Lakers to take a 38-34 lead with eight minutes remaining.
"The halftime speech was literally to play with heart and passion," Lakeview head coach Mike Imes said. "The energy all of a sudden just picked up. We got some good deflections, got some steals and we shot better. It was just pure energy. We play 26 games a year, to waste a half is not good."
Thovson also emphasized that the Lakers' increased energy in the second half was a game-changer.
"I think they just ratcheted up their intensity," Thovson said. "They got much more aggressive with their press and we started playing a little too fast. That's something we have to learn to handle because all these presses aren't going to go away when we see teams."
The Lakers scored 33 points in the second half.
Herrick scored the Lakers' go-ahead bucket in the second-half after making a steal on the defensive end and fighting through contact to drain a layup on the offensive end to give her team a 1-point lead. She missed the and-1 attempt, but Rosenau was able to secure the offensive rebound and convert on the close-range putback to increase Lakeview's lead to 3 points.
Rosenau finished the game with a team-high 21 points and her 11 rebounds were second on the team to Megan Schwartz's 15. Herrick was Lakeview's second-leading scorer with 14 points.
AshleeAnn Frazeur made a series of big hustle plays for the Lancers. While they weren't necessarily plays that showed up in the box score, her willingness to dive for loose balls, force jump balls, and save balls heading out of bounds were crucial in getting her team extra possessions. She finished the game with five rebounds and a steal.
Also playing quality defense for Canby was Braelynn Merritt. On the offensive end, she had a team-high five assists.
Despite the loss, the Lakers were optimistic about their future due to the second-half performance.
"The message in the locker room is that you have to build off this now," Imes said. "You have to remember that first half and let it bug you a little bit, but you also have to remember that second half and how well you played. That's the type of energy and excitement that's gotta come every game and all game."
The Canby Lancers (2-3) and the Lakeview Lakers (0-4) will both play their next game on the road Thursday at 7:15 p.m., with Canby traveling to Lac qui Parle Valley and Lakeview to Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.