Lakewood Tigers trounce first-round foe

A first-round win in any classification in the state basketball tournament is always a blessing. And that certainly was the way it was as the Lakewood boys defeated visiting Grand Junction Central 72-42 on Feb. 24.

Lakewood, coached by Daryl Johnson, didn’t waste any time in jumping out to a quick 19-11 lead after the first quarter and kept the run going to establish a 40-27 halftime margin.

Defensively, Lakewood only allowed four baskets in the third quarter and the trend continued through the fourth, with only three more baskets allowed. Those three, by the way, were all three-pointers.

Lakewood’s scoring was even throughout the night with only Kolton Peterson and Ezekiel Sundberg in double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Tigers improved to 15-9 while the Warriors saw their 17-7 season end.

“This is a big win and that first quarter certainly got us going,” said Peterson, a junior who stands in at 6-foot-2. “We were able to focus and get into gear. We played hard defensively and we were focused on our offense. We were able to move the ball and make the plays we needed to do. We just want to stay strong the rest of the way.”

“The big key was having such a fine first quarter as our offense was really on key,” said Sunberg, a 5-foot-11 sophomore. “Our defense kept them down and certainly kept us in the game. I’m excited with our start for state and we just want to keep it going. We were ready to play.”

It definitely was a good night for Lakewood under Johnson.

“I thought Grand Junction Central had a good season and we were worried about them,” said Johnson. “Offensively, we had our focus and we just didn’t get stopped. Defensively, we were able to stop them. We got the rebounds and we were able to run with the ball and do what we had to do.”

Lakewood moved into the second round against Doherty last Saturday, but the Tigers could not maintain their momentum. They were beaten, 78-69, by the Spartans. The season thus ended for the 15-10 Tigers.