LAKEWOOD — While Fairview continued its search for consistency on both ends of the floor Thursday night, the Knights ran up against a team with a clear blueprint.
In its first game of a back-to-back, Fairview couldn’t keep up with Lakewood and its potent attack from beyond the perimeter as the Knights fell to the Tigers 60-43 for its third straight loss.
Lakewood spread the floor and consistently looked to lift up from afar, hitting a season-high 12 3-pointers in just its third win in 12 games. The Tigers hit 11 3s in a loss to Vista PEAK Prep on Tuesday before carrying that touch into Thursday.
Afterward, Fairview coach Randy Earl said he was baffled with his team’s defensive performance after the Knights allowed Lakewood to go 8 of 9 from the 3-point line in the first half. This, especially since Fairview (3-8) had allowed only 13 points in the opening half to CHSAANow No. 7 Horizon on Tuesday before the Hawks eventually pulled away.
“The last three or four games we’ve been playing better defense, but it was not very good tonight,” said Earl, who is in his first year with the Knights following a long, successful stint at Berthoud. “That’s what we have to rely on. And when we don’t have defense, until we get better offensively, this is what’s going to happen to us.”
On the strength of a near-perfect performance from beyond the perimeter in the opening half — one that included Lakewood junior guard Nadia Trevizo-Medina floating a longball high off the backboard and into the net — the Tigers now have 38 3s in their last four games. They hit just 32 in their first eight games of the year.
After Trevizo-Medina’s bank-shot bananas, Aaliyah Sabala ended the first with a long swish of her own to put Lakewood up 17-12. The lead continued to grow as Fairview’s offense went a bit dry midway through the second and into the third, and the Tigers went on 26-8 run to take a 47-24 lead going into the fourth.
“They were hitting lights out and credit to them, but I think we got a little intimidated by it,” Fairview junior guard Izzy Munson said. “We knew they were good shooters, but we didn’t know they were that good of shooters.”
Fairview appeared to settle down in the fourth, outscoring the Tigers 19-13. In the quarter, defenders were closing out on shooters and the offense had finally found a bit of a rhythm.
Of course, it was too late to whittle away a 25-point deficit. Perhaps, though, it’s a step in the right direction.
“The fourth we just played our hearts out,” Munson said. “We went on a bit of run there and having that confidence, we can carry that over to tomorrow.”
Fairview is at Mountain Range on Friday.
Brent W. New: , bwnew@prairiemountainmedia.com and @brentwnew
Lakewood 60, Fairview 43
At Lakewood HS
Fairview (3-8)
Richmond 3 2-2 10, Englund 1 0-0 3, Novak 0 0-0 0, Morton 0 0-2 0, Westfall 1 1-2 4, Munson 6 2-4 15, Gurmendi 0 0-0 0, Page 0 0-2 0, Callicoatt 0 0-0 0, Lampert 4 3-7 11, Motsinger 0 0-0 0.
Lakewood (3-9)
Fillion 2 0-0 6, Watson 1 0-0 2, Rice 0 0-0 0, Robles 0 0-0 0, Hubych 7 3-5 18, Miller 1 1-2 4, Trevizo-Medina 4 2-5 13, Sabala 4 0-0 12, Salas 2 0-0 5.
Score by quarters:
Fairview (3-8)128419—43Lakewood (3-9)17151513—60
3-point field goals — Fairview (5): Richmond 2, Englund, Westfall, Munson; Lakewood (12): Sabala 4, Trevizo-Medina 3, Fillion 2, Hubych, Miller, Salas. Total fouls — Fairview 13, Lakewood 15. Fouled out — No players fouled out. Technical fouls — Randy Earl.
