The Garden City Telegram

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Lakin boys, girls beat Elkhart

Published 2/11/2012 in Sports

By KEVIN THOMPSON

sports@gctelegram.com

LAKIN — On a night when a state title team was being honored, Lakin looked to use that symbiotic energy to its advantage.

The girls maybe found some of that energy of the past as they came back to defeat Elkhart 45-42 in a Hi-Plains League game.

Despite jumping out to a 15-9 lead after the first quarter, during which Elkhart had trouble finding the basket, the Lady Broncs saw that lead quickly disappear in the second.

After going up 19-11 at the 6:50 mark, Lakin went over six minutes before scoring, during which time they saw the Lady Wildcats take a 24-21 lead into halftime.

Lakin battled back in the second half in what became a see-saw battle the rest of the way. They chipped away at the Elkhart lead midway into the final period and tied it at 39-39 when Kara Simmons nailed a three with 2:28 to play.

Elkhart could only manage three free throws the rest of the way while Lakin scored six more points in a variety of ways for the win.

Lakin shot just 17-of-55 from the floor, but Elkhart was cold as well, shooting only 14-of-48, and the Broncs won the battle of the boards 39-23.

Simmons and Karlee Davidson led Lakin with eight points each, while Elkhart (8-9) was led by Lacy Bookstore with 10, all from the field.

It just wasn't the Wildcats' night, though the effort was there, coach Lorrie Wright said.

"We've been improving and working together well. Tonight I felt like we just couldn't hit a basket. If we would have had just one person hot, it would have been a whole different story," Wright said.

Nineteen turnovers didn't help the cause much, either, but Wright said that's something they've dealt with all season.

For Lakin coach Shawn Michaelis, this was another close but welcome win.

"Our girls play hard from start to finish," he said. "It comes down to making key plays, and they've been doing that better lately."

This win was a total team effort, he said, especially since nobody really had a hot hand.

"We've been playing better here lately. You always want to be playing your best this close to substate. So far we've been taking steps in that direction. We just need to keep doing that," Michaelis said.

Lakin (7-10) hosts Deerfield tonight in the second annual Kearny County Shootout.

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Elkhart 9 15 9 9 -- 42

Lakin 15 6 11 13 -- 45

Elkhart (42) — Kali Hoskinson 2 1-2 5, Fullerton 2 2-4 6, Bookstore 5 0-0 10, Brewer 0 8-10 8, White 1 0-0 2, Thomason 2 1-2 5, Strothman 2 2-2 6. Totals 14 14-20 42.

Lakin (45) — Williams 0 3-4 3, Hill 3 0-2 7, Davidson 4 0-0 8, Haney 2 0-0 4, Simmons 3 1-2 8, Rogers 2 1-4 5, Watkins 1 2-2 4, Armstrong 1 0-2 2, Richter 1 2-2 4. Totals 17 9-18 45.

3-point goals — Elkhart 0, Lakin 2 (Hill 1, Simmons 1).

Boys

Lakin 52,

Elkhart 46

On the boys' side, maybe a little halftime inspiration from the 2002 boys championship team ceremony got the Broncs on the right track as they overcame a six-point deficit to grab a 52-46 win over the Wildcats.

Lakin took advantage of some poor shooting from the Wildcats in the third quarter (one early free throw and two late field goals) to pull to within two at that break. Then they outscored Elkhart 20-12 in the final quarter to get the comeback win.

Bryant Miller led the Lakin charge with 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, including three 3-pointers.

Cole Parks led all scorers with 23 points, including 10 in the second to give Elkhart its lead. Alex Gomez added 11.

Broncs coach Steve Davidson said a more intense defense and more aggressive offense in the second half turned things around for his team, especially in a game that had seven ties and 16 lead changes.

"It was one of those games where you're never comfortable, by any means. But I think we turned it up defensively and with rebounding in the second half."

Elkhart's defense had his Broncs standing around too much in the first half, Davidson said, so they made adjustments at halftime.

The adjustments seemed to work.

Lakin also outrebounded a taller Elkhart team 32-22, 18 of those in the second half.

In that critical third quarter meltdown by Elkhart, Davidson said all the Broncs had to do was step up the defensive intensity.

"We were allowing them to get shots off easily in the first half, so we changed our intensity," he said. "They were missing some easy shots, but hopefully it's because we were attacking them more."

Khris Buckner said his team's third-quarter shooting woes have been occurring the past few games and he's not sure what the answer is.

"When we're on, we're on. When we're not, we miss a lot of baskets, especially underneath with a lot of 'gimmes' and put-backs," he said. "That really hurts. We missed 12 or 14 tonight three feet or closer."

Despite the low shooting output (16-of-47), Buckner credits his team (8-9, 2-5) with playing hard the entire game.

"But it's the little things that we're not doing, and Lakin did it. Give the credit to them," he said.

Lakin is now 7-10 (4-3 in league play) and will face Deerfield tonight in the second annual Kearny County Shootout.

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Elkhart 12 17 5 12 -- 46

Lakin 12 11 9 20 -- 52

Elkhart (46) — Gomez 4 1-2 11, Coen 1 2-2 4, Parks 7 4-5 20, Winger 1 1-3 3, Harbour 2 0-0 5, Moreno 1 0-0 3. Totals 16 8-12 46.

Lakin (52) — Shalberg 2 0-0 4, Miller 7 3-4 20, Davidson 2 2-2 6, Sauer 0 1-2 1, Kinnier 2 1-2 5, Chavez 2 1-1 5, Rosales 1 2-4 4, Armstrong 1 0-2 2, Geubelle 2 1-2 5. Totals 19 11-19 52.

3-point goals — Elkhart 6 (Gomez 2, Parks 2, Harbour 1, Moreno 1), Lakin 3 (Miller 3).

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