Cougars defeat Spartans

Lakewood outscored Stanwood by 10 points in the fourth quarter to win by five points, topping the Spartans 60-55 during the Cougars' June 10 season finale.

“We really responded in the fourth quarter,” Lakewood coach Anthony Wiederkehr said. Lakewood outscored the Spartans 17-7 in the fourth quarter.

He added that the team played sluggish through the first half and until there was two minutes left in the third quarter.

“We did enough defensively to stick around,” Wiederkehr said.

Stanwood started the game on a nine-point run before the Cougars pulled within two points by the end of the first quarter trailing 16-14. Lakewood closed to one point about halfway through the second quarter, but Stanwood extended their lead 28-24 at halftime.

By the mid-point of the third quarter, Stanwood increased their lead to 10-points. Looking for a change of pace, Lakewood switched to a full-court press.

“We like to play fast. I was looking for something to get the kids going,” Wiederkehr said.

By the end of the third quarter, Lakewood had cut Stanwood’s lead in half, trailing 48-43.

Lakewood Junior Blake Conyers scored 14 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, including three three-pointers.

Teammate Justice Taylor also had 19 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

“He’s been our floor general,” Wiederkehr said, adding Taylor always stepped up in close games.

Wiederkehr credited Stanwood’s defense for limiting Shae Dixon’s scoring to nine points. He is the Cougars' leading scorer, averaging 22 points per game.

Lakewood tied the score 48-48 with a three-pointer by Conyers at about midway through the fourth quarter. Conyers hit two free throws to put the Cougars ahead by two points. Stanwood managed to tie the game at 55 each before Conyers sunk one more three-pointer that put Lakewood ahead for good.

The June 10 game marked the second victory of the week for Lakewood. The Cougars traveled to Marysville Getchell June 8 and beat the Chargers 72-67. Wiederkehr said Dixon had 29 points and Andrew Molloy had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Last week’s wins bump Lakewood’s record to 9-1 with its only blemish occurring May 24 with a loss against undefeated Mariner High School.

Wiederkehr said the team’s record was the best in school history and the team had the most average points per game at 70.5 points per game. Lakewood, typically a 2A school playing in the Northwest Conference, played in the Wesco Conference comprised of 3A and 4A schools.

“The whole group really made the most of it. They did it as a team. They did it the right way,” Wiederkehr said.