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The lone area team competing in the sectional tournament on Wednesday night, Lakeland Christian made the trip up to Goshen to take on Hoosier Plains Conference rival and hosts Bethany Christian. The Cougars stuck around for a majority of the first half, but the Bruins separated in the second, ending LCA’s season with a 46-32 win.
Isaiah Stahl gave the Cougars the start they were looking for, as the junior scored the first four points of the night to give his team an early lead. It didn’t take the Bruins long to respond, and the hosts did so in a big way. Bethany Christian went on to score the next seven points to jump in front.
In the early going, LCA was playing a lot of hero ball, where one player dominated possession on an offensive trip, trying to create space for himself to get an open look. On the other side, BCA had no problems sharing the basketball and moving it around to find open looks. It was paying off in strides, as the hosts took a 13-6 lead with just under two minutes left in the first quarter. After a hot start for the Cougars, they’d managed just one basket in the last five minutes.
That remained the score as the first period came to an end. Bethany had shown it was able to respond to adversity after LCA began the game with that 4-0 lead. Now, it was Lakeland Christian’s turn.
The Cougars began the second quarter by moving the ball much better than in the first. It wasn’t paying off on the scoreboard, as the visitors had managed just two points over the first three minutes, but it was clear that the team was beginning to play with more confidence, especially on the defensive end. Aaron Guase especially was doing a great job, blocking four shots over the first four minutes of the period.
This allowed Lakeland Christian to slowly chip away, eventually getting to within three points. It remained close for the next few minutes as both defenses were playing extremely aggressively. This resulted in a plethora of turnovers and fastbreak opportunities for each side, but a good chunk resulted in empty trips.
Senior Noah Higham was LCA’s top offensive option in the quarter, as he created a ton of good looks for himself in the paint. With a little over a minute left in the first half, he hit a midrange jumper that put his team within two. However, a strong finish to first 16 minutes for the Bruins made it an eight-point game at the break, a crucial advantage for the hosts in a game where points had been scarce.
Senior Noah Higham of LCA elevates to gete his shot over Bethany Christian's Sawyer Beachy...Nieter
Two minutes into the third quarter, the Bethany lead had grown to 12. The Cougars were having an incredibly difficult time taking care of the basketball, and their opponent was making them pay. The Bruins had figured out that they could get just about anything they wanted in the paint, and were using that to their advantage.
As the second half wore on, The hosts really started to get into a rhythm. The ball was flying all over the court, and the players were making the timely cuts to meet it at an opportune place. On the other side, the Cougars were not sharing that success. With less than two minutes to go in th the third, BCA’s lead had grown to nearly 20 points and the hosts were in full control of the game.
The Cougars did their best to make things a bit more managable as the fourth quarter neared, but even with a jumper from Gause in the final seconds of the third, LCA still trailed by 17 with eight minutes left.
With its season on the line, Lakeland Christian refused to go quietly. With the defense leading the way, the visitors chipped away as best they could at the Bethany lead. With a little under three minutes to go in the game, the Bruins were still yet to score in the fourth. While this was an incredibly positive development for LCA, the team had not taken advantage as much as it needed to, still trailing by 13.
The closest the Cougars were able to get within was 12 with 90 seconds left in the game. Forced to play the foul game late, Bethany Christian did what it needed to do at the charity stripe to finish things off.
Lakeland Christian will return next season.
