SIBLEY – In the rubber match of the season series between the Minden and Lakeside boys, it came down to the final minute.
The Warriors, playing on their home floor, were able to outlast the Crimson Tide in the waning moments of the fourth quarter thanks to a rare miss on an uncontested layup by Minden.
“Pretty close game all the way through,” Lakeside head coach Jason Gould said. “What I really liked tonight was our tempo. We kept it under control; the low scoring game was good for us.”
To say defense was the cause of the sloppy offensive play would be stretching things a bit. Both teams were cold coming off the long holiday layoff, as the two squads were tied at 8-8 after a lackluster first quarter.
Things picked up in the second quarter, as the teams traded baskets into the final minute of the half.
With 31 seconds to play in the second, Minden’s Jalone Branch was whistled for a technical foul. Jalen Gould knocked down the foul shots and Lakeside went into the break leading 26-23.
In the third quarter, Lakeside extended their lead to six points at 42-36. They would maintain a similar margin the rest of the way, as Minden could not buy a bucket down the stretch.
Trailing 48-45, the Tide came up with a steal that led to a run-out and an uncontested layup that
would have cut the lead to one point and certainly made for a photo finish the way Lakeside was shooting free throws, but the layup slipped off the front of the rim and the Warriors grabbed the rebound to preserve the win.
Damian Coleman and Jalen Gould each had 17 points to lead Lakeside in the win. Aaron Moses led Minden with 12 points, followed by A’Sean Davis with 10 points.
Lakeside won two out of three meetings against Minden this season.
In the girls game, the Minden Lady Tiders showed a bit of holiday rust as well before shaking off their slow start and cruising to a 58-40 win.
Minden head coach Jacob Brown was not impressed with the way his team played.
“We just didn’t play as hard as I’d like us too,” Brown said. “I thought we sat back on our heels instead of making things happen like we normally do.”
Lyndzee McConathy’s Lady Warriors (6-12) came out playing hard and battled to a 12-9 first quarter deficit against the Lady Tiders (16-2).
Minden, typically a good shooting team from behind the arc, was off the mark early on Tuesday.
“The 3-pointers were not falling early,” Brown said. “I wanted us to do a better job of running our offenses and getting out in transition, and at times we did, but it wasn’t a good performance for four quarters.”
Minden came back to hit 8 3-pointers for the night.
Tayler Banks led the Lady Tiders with a career-high 16 points. Destini Powell added 8 points and Whitney Aubrey added 7 points.