HUSKIES HANG ON
Lakeview survives Warren Woods Tower’s comeback effort in state tournament
Teams that hold 15-point leads in the third quarter probably have a high winning percentage.
The Lakeview Huskies, who led Warren Woods Tower by that amount in the District 22 quarterfinal on Monday at Cousino, kept up the trend — but not before giving up the lead and more along the way.
But all’s well that ends well; Lakeview pulled off a 61-57 victory to advance to Wednesday’s district semifinals.
“We’ve given up some double digit leads,” said Lakeview head coach John Carr. “More than a few — probably eight or nine times this year. But I’m proud of the guys. Settled down and got control of the game at the end, knocked down some free throws.”
The Huskies took a 15-point lead late in the third quarter, but three-straight 3-pointers by the Titans quickly drew them back within six, which is where the deficit sat at the end of the third. Tower eventually tied the game at 53 with 2:25 left in the game and, with 1:56, took their first lead since the first quarter.
They had their chances to win, too. Down by one with under 30 seconds to go, Tower’s Corey Charleston drove to the hoop but couldn’t finish through contact.
But Lakeview split their free throws on the ensuing possession, allowing Tower to stay within two. Tower’s Jalen Johnson was fouled on the other end to give them a chance to tie, but he missed his second attempt.
Lakeview senior Keonte Woolf proceeded to make both of his free throws, and a Titan turnover on the ensuing inbound sealed the game.
“We have nine seniors,” Carr said. “We’ve lost six games by three points or under. So they’ve been there before. They’ve won a few close games too. They’ve been there before, and they showed it down the stretch.
“Keonte Woolf, he said some things during the timeout. You know, let’s get it together, he’s the leader there. He made a nice and-one, he made a couple free throws at the end.”
Carr noted that a large chunk of his senior group has played together since middle school, play baseball together and are friends outside of sports. Woolf led all scorers with 16 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. Bryce Ong had 12 and Evan Robinson had 11. All players are seniors.
Warren Woods Tower scored the first six points of the game, but Lakeview went on a 15-4 run to take their first lead. They led by five at halftime and then proceeded to score six-straight out of the break before getting their lead to the game-high 15.
Tower, in contrast to Lakeview, got its charge from its youth.
“The young guys grew up tonight,” said
WWT head coach Chris Kyles.
“Our seniors, they led. Corey Charleston and Demitri Sneed and Jalen Johnson, they led the way. And Robert Gordon and Ralphael Glass, our young guys, they played fearless. We have a never give up attitude. Play to the last buzzer, and that’s what we did tonight. Just didn’t turn out our way.”
Gordon scored 13 points and Glass had 12, both trailing only Sneed’s 15 for the team high.
“At Warren Woods Tower, we really mainly play two seniors and a lot of freshmen and sophomores and one junior, so the future’s definitely bright. We’re excited about next year,” Kyles said.
“We’ll take some time off. These guys got to start working themselves individually and we’ll be back at it soon.”
The Titans’ season ends with an 8-14 record.
Lakeview will be back at Cousino on Wednesday, Feb. 28 to face District 22’s top team: De La Salle.
Carr had nothing but praise for the Pilots. “They’re one heck of a team,” he said. “The Catholic League’s unbelievable. They’ve played a really tough schedule. They’re going to be ready for anything. We’re just going to try and play under control, not turn the ball over and rebound because they’ve got some great offensive rebounders. All five of their kids rebound really hard.”