Lakewood boys basketball advances to districts

To play at Squalicum in first round Feb. 26

By Travis Sherer • February 25, 2010 3:45 pm
Cougars' senior Beau Wiersma splits a pair of Sehome defenders while going for a layin.
Cougars' senior Beau Wiersma splits a pair of Sehome defenders while going for a layin.

LAKEWOOD — As a microcosm of this season, it took the Cougar boys half of the game to wake up.

But when they did, they proved to be the better team in a winner-to-district, loser-out victory over Sehome Feb. 24.

“No matter what we do from here on out, it was nice for these seniors to get a win in their last home game,” said Lakewood hoops coach Matt Hart following the 50-43 result. “This school doesn’t have a ton of tradition, but wins like these help build something.”

The Cougars, which feature 10 seniors on their roster, played with the poise of upperclassmen in the second half in overcoming a 27-22 halftime deficit against a young, but physically imposing Mariners squad.

“Those north schools always are big,” Hart said. “We talked about rebounding and that kind of hurt us in the first half. We did a better job boxing out after that.”

Lakewood has another school from Whatcom County on its schedule with the opening game of the District 1 tournament at Squalicum Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. In this double-elimination tournament, two victories earn one of the district’s four state berths.

Trying to keep an up-tempo pace, the Cougars divvied up their touches based on who had the best shot in the second half, which resulted in an all-around effort. Senior guard Cameron Fry led six Cougars that scored at least five points with a game-high 13 and three steals.

“We made the extra pass tonight,” Hart said. “We ran our stuff and those looks fell in.”

Scoring a handful was senior post Nathan Diggs, who kept Lakewood’s offense going with all his points in the second quarter by backing down his opponent.

“We’ve been preaching to Diggs all season was to square up or don’t shoot,” Hart said. “He’s starting to do that and when he does, with his size, he’s impossible to guard down low.”

Lakewood retook the lead in the third quarter in the middle of an 11-2 run to make the score 33-29. With Sehome rallying to save its season, Fry and fellow senior Shanan Bird combined for a trio timely 3-pointers to keep the Mariners at arms length during the final three minutes.