Knights back at state; open with Potlatch Thursday

Add to that the fact that Lakeside had not played in two weeks, and the Knights had a task in front of them.

But as Coach James Twoteeth’s team has done this season, it got contributions from its full rotation and bounced back leading 20-10 after the first quarter of a 76-43 win.

“We came out too sluggish at the start,” Lakeside junior Liam Hendrickx, who finished with 15 points, said. “Genesis Prep did a good job to slow the game down.”

Vander Brown led the team with 18 points, followed by Liam’s 15. Tyson Charley added 14 points, Brutis SiJohn 12 and Blaze Callahan seven as Lakeside earned a return trip to the state tournament after missing last season.

“All of our starting five is able to score at least 15 per game,” Liam said. “And our sixth man can score too, so we’ve got a lot of options.”

The victory sets up a state 1AD1 quarterfinal matchup between Lakeside and Potlatch Thursday at Vallivue High School in Caldwell.

The Knights are ranked third, and with a win would meet the winner of #2 Grace/#7 Victory Charter.

Top-seed Lapwai sits on the opposite side of the bracket. The Knights and Wildcats met once, and while Lakeside lost the matchup, they gave Lapwai their third-closest game of the season, an 89-76 result.

“We feel like we can compete with anybody,” Liam said. “We’re feeling confident. Last night at practice we discussed how cool it would be if both of us won out and met in the championship. You don’t get that very often, two native teams in the championship. That would be really cool.”

Up Next: Lakeside (15-3, 4-0 SIC) tips off against Potlatch Thursday at Vallivue High School at 1 p.m. PST.

Lakeside 76, Genesis Prep 43 (District Championship)

LHS 20 16 18 22 76

GP 10 9 13 11 43

Brown – 18 pts.; Hendrickx – 15 pts.; Charley – 14 pts.; SiJohn – 12 pts.; Callahan – 7 pts.; Rivera – 5 pts.; Hall – 5 pts.