The Three Lakes boys’ basketball team picked up two playoff wins last week as the 3-seed in its regional, winning games against 14-seeded Marion last Tuesday and six-seeded Rosholt in the regional semifinal last Friday.
The Bluejays saw their season end at two-seeded Laona-Wabeno 51-23 Saturday night on the road in the regional title game.
Three Lakes opened its playoff run last Tuesday in Three Lakes and welcomed in the No. 14-seeded Mustangs of Marion.
A big first half put the Bluejays up by 27 in what was an 81-52 final to advance into the semifinals.
The Jays got out to a quick start and led 8-2 within the first 2:20 of the game. That later ballooned to a 20-7 advantage after Owen Liebscher muscled a shot in through contact for an and-one. Late in the first half, with the Jays already up 16, Sam Koshuta buried a triple to make it a 19-point game, and then sophomore Easton Lurvey beat the halftime buzzer to make it a 50-23 game at the break.
Three Lakes scored another 31 points and outscored Marion 31-29 in the 28-point win.
On a night when Three Lakes did not shoot great from beyond the 3-point arc, it was the interior scoring of junior Nolan Waltz, who helped Lurvey in the scoring column with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Lurvey finished with a game-high 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Senior Levi Lurvey finished the night with 13 points. Easton Lurvey, Koshuta and Waltz led the team on the glass with seven rebounds apiece.
Liebscher had a second consecutive game with double-digit assists as the floor general, posting 11 assists.
The team moved the ball well in the win, having 24 assists on 35 made field goals and shot 56% from the field as a group. They were just 3-of-14 from 3-point distance.
Friday night saw the Jays battle with the Hornets of Rosholt for a chance to advance to the regional championship game. Three Lakes got ahead 13-7 early and even got a double-digit lead before Rosholt settled in and got within four, 25-21, late in the half. The Jays led 25-23 at halftime.
Coach Lurvey said Waltz got in some foul trouble during the game, so the team needed to play small for parts of the night.
Out of the intermission, Three Lakes remained ahead of Rosholt 42-34 with about nine minutes left in the game. A 9-5 run that included two triples by Easton Lurvey and Koshuta put the lead to 12, 51-39, with 4:42 left.
“I was happy with our effort. I think the biggest difference is that we had a game plan to attack the inside and try to get them in foul trouble. It was working when we took our lead. A lot of those points were drive the lane and dish to the big,” said Head Coach George Lurvey.
The two teams battled each other on the glass, and Coach Lurvey praised the Hornets for their ability to rebound and how his team responded with different lineups on the floor.
“(Rosholt) are monsters on the offensive glass. They’re big and strong. We had to go to a little bit of a smaller lineup for a while,” he stated. “I was happy with the guys. They’re boxing out, trying their hardest. But we were outsized for a while.”
Easton Lurvey finished with 18 points in the win, while Levi Lurvey had 13 and Waltz finished with 12 points.
The team finished the night shooting nearly 37% from the field and pulled down 36 rebounds.
The Jays advanced to Saturday’s regional title game with Northern Lakes Conference foe Laona-Wabeno. An off-shooting night had Three Lakes down early against the Rebels and eventually lost the game 51-23 to end its season. The Rebels held the Jays to just 6-of-38 from the field for 15%, while Laona-Wabeno shot 39% on the night.
The team will return much of the roster next season, as they will lose just two seniors from this year’s team that finished 16-10 overall and took second in the NLC at 6-2.
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