Three Lakes competes against Lakeland; Jays end the week with win at Tomahawk

The Three Lakes boys’ basketball team (2-3,1-0) continued its nonconference schedule last week, with Lakeland coming away with a 53-47 win in Three Lakes last Tuesday after the Jays took a slight lead in the second half. The Jays dominantly ended the week with a 69-29 win in Tomahawk.
With two Great Northern Conference teams on the docket last week, Lakeland came to town Tuesday in what was a competitive and complete game for Three Lakes, according to coach George Lurvey.
“I was very happy with the way we played against Lakeland. It is our best, most complete game to date, and the kids competed the entire game,” he said.
Freshman guard Easton Lurvey led Three Lakes offensively with 20 points. He also had six rebounds.
Senior Eli Erickson followed with 15 points and seven boards, along with a six-point, eight-rebound performance from Peyton Pitlik.

The Jays shot 35% from the floor and were outrebounded 43-30.
Lurvey got things rolling with an early 3-pointer before Lakeland’s defense tightened up and the T-Birds led 16-7 just over halfway through the half. The Jays slowed the game down and worked through their half-court offensive sets.
Defensive stands that led to a trio of steals by Lurvey and one each by Erickson and Charlie Liebscher led to Three Lakes climbing back into the game, 23-17, with about three minutes before the half.
Lakeland pushed that up to a 30-19 halftime lead, as Lurvey opened the second half with a triple.
He continued his scoring tear late in the second half with a small handful of 3-pointers as Three Lakes tried to chip away at the lead. Lurvey’s triples brought Three Lakes within nine and six points at different stages of the second half.
“We were able to take a slight lead in the second half after being down 11 at halftime, which showed me that the kids were willing to work hard and compete throughout the game,” explained Lurvey. “We had a chance to win the game, but we allowed Lakeland to go on a 10-0 run, which we had to chip away at and recover from.”
Turnovers were also a bright spot as the team cut down on the critical mistakes that changed the complexion of prior games.
“We did a great job of improving on turnovers that have been plaguing us in past games, but there is still room for improvement,” stated Lurvey. “We are greatly improving every week and we are very excited for what is ahead of us.”
Three Lakes closed the week in Tomahawk, and didn’t have much of a problem with the Hatchets, as the Jays won the game by 40.
The Jays were back home for a Northern Lakes Conference game versus Crandon Monday before another nonconference game versus Wakefield-Marenisco this Thursday, Dec. 19, at 7:15 p.m.