By Jordan Rodriguez, Special to NWPrepsNow.com
----------
NAMPA, Idaho – For three quarters, the Lake City boys basketball team hung right with undefeated, top-ranked Capital in the Idaho 5A State semifinals.
But in the end, Capital’s depth, speed and relentless defensive pressure were too much for LC to overcome. The Eagles opened the fourth quarter on a decisive 11-1 run, keying a 66-58 victory Friday at the Ford Idaho Center.
Capital (25-0) advances to play Borah (18-7) in tonight’s championship game. Lake City (18-6) takes on Rocky Mountain (18-7) in the 11 a.m. PST third-place game at Columbia High in Nampa.
“I thought we played our tails off,” Lake City coach Jim Winger said. “Capital is just so athletic. They’re a good basketball team, but they are fantastic athletes. We played extremely well, but they just keep reloading (off the bench) and you can’t afford to have any letdowns. That’s why they are undefeated.”
Senior guard Jake Vetsch led a determined Lake City effort with 24 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists. He made 7 of 11 field goals, all eight free-throw attempts and poured in 11 of Lake City’s 13 points in the third quarter to keep the Timberwolves afloat.
“We left it all on the court,” Vetsch said. “I was just trying to get my team back in the game and fight hard to the end, but we came up short.”
Added Winger: “Jake was fantastic. What a time to play the best game of your career.”
The score remained tight through three quarters, but Capital used an 11-1 run to open the fourth – punctuated by a Hunter Young 3 and Derrick White’s breakaway layup – to make it 53-38 with 4 minutes left.
The Timberwolves clawed their way back into the game, but the deficit proved too large to overcome.
“You have to darn near play perfect to beat them,” Winger said. “What really hurt us was Kyle (Guice) being in foul trouble. We basically played the whole game without him.”
Guice, a 6-foot-6 senior post, fouled out in just 14 minutes. He finished with three points and one rebound, missing all five of his field-goal attempts.
Senior wing JJ Winger scored 12 points for Lake City on 4-of-5 shooting – all from 3-point territory.
Junior guards Keegan Hansen (18 points) and White (17 points) led the way for the Eagles, who played 11 players with 10 scoring.
“We play a lot of guys,” Capital coach Paul Rush said. “That’s our philosophy: we want to wear teams down to where they are going to make some turnovers and be a little short on their jump shots in the fourth quarter. That’s our plan.”