HOWARD LAKE – After 18 minutes of play, there wasn’t much going well for the Lakers. They were being outplayed in almost every facet of the game, but still were in it despite their sluggish play to open the game.
Trailing by 11 at the half, the Lakers came out firing in the second half. After a 10-0 run, the Lakers found themselves within four, and cut the deficit to just three points with multiple chances to tie the game. It wasn’t meant to be though for the Lakers as they couldn’t get the key shot they needed to fall. Their gutsy comeback attempt fell short in a 44-39 loss to rival Maple Lake Thursday night.
“We just focused in,” HLWW coach James Carr said about the halftime talk. “We got to play all the way through to the defensive rebounds. We got play all the way through. You could tell the guys really came out in the second half fired up and ready to play.”
After being out-rebounded 23-4 in the first half and giving up 11 second-chance points to the Irish, the Lakers showed that fire and energy that Carr wanted to see.
Junior Brock Bangasser opened the scoring up in the second half for the Lakers with a powerful post move inside to get the Lakers going. On the ensuing possession, it was Bangasser again inside laying it in off the nice assist from freshman Noah Bush.
After the Lakers threw the first punch to open the second half, it was the Irish who responded to extend their lead to 12 just three minutes into the second half.
With still not much going for the Lakers, it was time for them to rely on their senior for leadership. Zach Uter, who struggled a bit in the first half, brought the spark the Lakers desperately needed, scoring seven straight points for the Lakers to get them back into the game.
“Zach came out fired up and ready to go,” Carr said. “He was really our lightning rod in the second half. He was just being aggressive towards the basket and not hesitating. He was doing everything for us out there. You could tell that the guys started to feed off that energy.”
Look for the rest of the story, as well as more HJ sports coverage, in the Friday, Feb. 2 edition of the Herald Journal. Click here for subscription information.