Boys Basketball: Lakers hang with Clippers for a half, stumble in third quarter

NAPLES—Despite a 20-point Noah Duprey performance vs. visiting Yarmouth on Saturday night, Dec. 14, the Lakers couldn’t get it done. Lake Region played the Clippers close through the first half, but turned in a weak third that ultimately doomed them: 58-48 the final.

“Defensively, we just didn’t do a great job that third quarter,” LRHS head coach Ryan Martin said. “We got ourselves into a little bit of a hole.”

The uphill half see-sawed on the scoreboard: The Clippers went up 2-0 to start on a David Riddle bucket; Lake Region responded with an Evan Willey layup; Yarmouth scored; LRHS scored. The first Lakers lead came at 7-4, on Duprey’s first strike – a three.

Ethan McMurray kept Lake Region on top 9-6 with a two, and – just after Q1 rolled into Q2 – Duprey ushered them further out front with a free. 10-6.

Yarmouth sprang into an eight-point run after that, moving to 17-10, then holding on at 20-13 thanks to Cam Merrill’s three-point shooting. The end of the quarter belonged to Lake Region: Isaac Holland added a two and McMurray assisted Duprey from the outside on a layup. Still, the break faced LRHS with a four-point deficit. They needed to regroup and recover, come the third.

“We missed a lot of passes today,” Martin said. “We were not in the right spots; we were just running our offense out too high, and running that offense too high, it’s hard to get open looks. We’re trying to be tighter with that, and waiting for screens and setting screens. So there’s some little things we’ve got to go back to watching film and see where we can get better on that.”

Alas, the Lakers stumbled upon returning to the court. Derek Langadas opened the stretch with a free for the team, but the Clippers piled on eight in a row after that. Duprey looked sharp in the quarter, notching a pair of threes – Willey notched one as well, not to mention a two – but LRHS’s 13 paled alongside Yarmouth’s 23.

Aidan Hickey contributed nine for the Clippers through those eight minutes – and he wasn’t the team’s only determined scorer: Pete Psyhogeos picked up seven, including a three. Jason Lainey kicked in a three as well, and Cole Snyder and Will Cox hashed two apiece.

“Hickey’s a tough player,” Martin said. “He had a great third quarter. We tried to get up and press a little bit, and he really tore that apart. He got to the middle of the floor, he got points for himself, he got points for his teammates.”

Lake Region did regain their composure in the fourth, even outpacing the Clippers 18-14: Duprey hit another three and drained three frees and Liam Grass hit a two and three frees to lead the Lakers, but their efforts weren’t enough. The final buzzer sounded their defeat.

Beyond Duprey’s 20, Grass and Langadas finished with five each, Willey with 10, Holland with four and Jake Stone with two. Lake Region slips to 1-2 on the loss.

Martin offered positive words for some of his boys, despite the loss. “Our leader, Derek, had a lot of energy tonight. He got some big offensive rebounds for us. Noah is one of our best shooters; he finally came and hit a couple threes tonight.

“And I think our guys always play hard. That’s the good thing about this team: I’ll never question their work ethic; there’s never a team that I think outworks us. We’ve got to play a little smarter, a little more together at times, but We worked pretty hard.”