Wolfe, Knights stay in hunt for title
CALDWELL, Idaho – It took Notus 22 minutes to take a lead Thursday night against Lakeside.
It took Tim Wolfe and the Knights less than 2 minutes to show the Pirates the door in the second round of the State 1A boys basketball tournament.
Wolfe scored off a steal then fed teammate Mike Sifford with a pretty pass to set off a dominant final quarter in a 52-31 runaway victory at Vallivue High.
“Tim is phenomenal. He’s an awesome ballplayer,” Lakeside coach Stacey Sonder said. “He’s a great all-around ballplayer.”
The Knights face Mackay at 7 p.m. PST today in a state semifinal game.
With Wolfe leading the way, Lakeside (23-1) ran past Notus (21-3) after Darrin Burdine’s jump shot with 1 minute, 50 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Pirates their only lead, 27-26.
Notus, which suited just eight players, scored one basket in the next 71/2 minutes and watched as the Knights used a 26-4 run to close out the game.
“I didn’t expect it to be as far as it was,” Sonder said of the winning margin, “but we finish well. But I was surprised to see the score that far apart.”
Wolfe scored eight of his game-high 22 points during the decisive streak. The 5-foot-9 senior guard’s 3-pointer with 2:20 left answered Notus’ only basket in the final 7 minutes. Forty seconds earlier, he drained another long-range shot, one of four in the game for the sparkplug.
“He came down and shot two 3-pointers on the run,” Sonder said. “He stopped and popped ‘em. He’s really confident in his game.”
Wolfe snapped a 20-all deadlock with a 3-pointer released from deep beyond the top of the key.
“Our game plan was to shut down the inside and then wear them down,” Sonder said. “We just wanted to push it, push it.”
Lakeside’s frenetic style paid off even when it couldn’t pull away early. Notus committed 13 turnovers in the first half. But Lakeside’s ballhandling was inconsistent, too, and the Pirates stayed close.
Troy 66, Post Falls Christian 24: Tyler Bollman and Aaron Smith scored 16 points apiece to power the Trojans (24-1) past the Eagles (17-8) in a quarterfinal at Caldwell High.
Bollman and Smith shot a combined 15 of 28 from the floor as the Trojans shot 53 percent from the floor. Troy’s Connor Williams added 11 rebounds and 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the floor.
The Eagles shot 9 of 42 from the field. David Park hit a pair of 3-pointers and Brack Adkins had six rebounds for PFC.
The Eagles will play a loser-out game this afternoon against Nezperce. Troy advanced to the semifinals against Cascade.