Cavs get ready for playoffs
Published 10:01 pm Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Lakeland High School’s boys’ basketball team knows some things it needs to work on in preparation for its postseason, which begins on Thursday against visiting Phoebus High School.
The Cavaliers ended their regular season with an 88-83 double-overtime road loss to conference rival Booker T. Washington High School on Thursday.
Lakeland coach Clint Wright pointed to his team’s failures at the free throw line as the deciding factor of the game.
“Definitely, we’ve got to convert those easy opportunities, and it didn’t happen,” he said.
The Cavs missed 17 free throws in the second half of the contest, including the two four-minute overtime periods.
The Bookers held a 19-17 lead after the first quarter and a 47-38 advantage at halftime, but then Lakeland put together a big third quarter to enter the fourth with a 56-54 lead.
The teams began the first overtime locked in a 68-68 tie and the game was knotted at 75-75 as the second extra session started.
“It was their senior night, which gave them another sense of urgency,” Wright said of the Bookers.
He noted he thought the Cavaliers played well in spurts, but it was not enough to overcome missed foul shots and missed easy put backs.
Senior guard Daquan Boyette led Lakeland in scoring with 27 points, but he fouled out in the first overtime period. Senior guard Qurante Budd fouled out at the start of the second overtime and finished with 12 points.
“We lost a lot of experience on the floor with that,” Wright said.
Cavaliers senior forward Deonta Knight ended up with 18 points, and junior guard Jerry Goodman had 15.
After No. 3 Phoebus destroyed No. 6 York High School 90-36 on Tuesday in the Conference 27 tournament quarterfinals, the Phantoms advanced to face host No. 2 Lakeland (15-7) on Thursday in the semifinals.