Numbers favor Lakes
Contrary to popular belief, there are some advantages to having only five players on a basketball team.
Each of those players, for example, are guaranteed that they will play every single minute of the ballgame. And there's more - all five players will be able to stretch out on the bus ride to and from school.
But in this specific case, with only five players on Wednesday night, Northside Prep was at a decided disadvantage against host Lakes in Class 3A regional semifinal play.
Actually, the only mystery in this one-sided affair was whether or not Lakes senior Ethan Sage would hold on to his lead. With his team up by more than 30 points, Sage and the other starters took a seat and watched the rest of the game.
And yes, Sage held on to his lead just barely. It was Sage 22, Northside Prep 21.
The regional title game is set for Lakes at 7 p.m. Friday night, when Lakes (16-13) will battle Richmond-Burton for the regional crown.
It's a safe bet that Richmond will bring more than five players.
In this 60-21 romp, Sage was actually most proud that he and his Eagles teammates held Northside to single-digit scoring in every quarter.
"We knew we were the stronger team,'' Sage said. "Northside did the best they could. I know it's really hard to play with five players. We still played hard. We wanted to get to the regional title game."
Sage went to halftime with 18 points. At one point, he scored 6 consecutive points. The Eagles' halftime lead was a healthy 40-11.
"We heard this afternoon about the five players,'' said Lakes coach Chris Snyder. "It still took us awhile to get going. We played at a really good pace in the second quarter."
Two more driving layups from Sage signaled the end for the starters. With injuries sidelining the likes of Benett Haviland and Dalton Solbrig, Snyder was able to clear his bench for most of the second half.
"Some of those guys even made it in the scorebook,'' Snyder said.
Sage wasn't concerned that his personal victory over the visitors would vanish, but he clearly wanted to make sure the visitors didn't score in double figures in the final quarter. Garrett Clarke scored the final 4 points of the game for the Eagles, and then Lakes held the ball for the final minute.
Snyder is well aware that the regional title game won't be such a breeze.
"Richmond is having a 20-win season,'' he said. "They have good size and can score inside and outside."
As the season winds down, Sage is glad to play on this team.
"We've all been playing basketball forever,'' Sage said. "We've really grown together as a team. Now we want to cut down some nets."
Haviland and Solbrig hope to be able to play Friday night.