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Lakeview rallies to oust Howland
Next up is regional play at Barberton
By Charles Grove
AUSTINTOWN
Rewind to last year. Second-seeded Lakeview was at home against 10th-seeded Crestwood in the first round of the postseason. Piece of cake, right?
Wrong.
Crestwood pulled off the upset and the Bulldogs went home with their tails between their legs.
Thursday, these Bulldogs had nothing but smiles on their faces.
Lakeview came from behind in the second half to take down Howland 47-40 at Fitch High School to win the Division II district title and advance to regional competition.
“[Last year] really motivated us and kept us focused throughout the year because they didn’t want that to happen again,” Lakeview head coach Adam Lewis said.
Annie Pavlansky scored 19 for the Bulldogs while Addie Becker added 10 points.
“I think we all took that really, really hard so we’ve had a bit of a redemption this year.” Pavlansky said of last year’s upset.
Howland was led by Sara Price’s 10 points.
Things seemed about as bleak as they could be for the Bulldogs in the first quarter. Lakeview only managed three points. Howland was stuffing everything the Bulldogs tried on offense, mostly thanks to Price who racked up block after block in the first half.
Howland held the lead at 17-13 at halftime.
“The first half we kind of did what we wanted to do. We did a nice job defensively in the first half,” Howland head coach John Diehl said. “I knew we couldn’t play at that defensive intensity the whole game.
“I wish we could but you can’t.”
Diehl also said his Tigers missed a number of shots at the basket that likely would’ve stretched their lead to double digits by halftime.
Lewis said his team was too stagnant on offense in the first half and looked to his sophomore point guard to lead the Bulldogs the final two quarters.
Lewis ran set after set isolating Pavlansky and getting Price farther away from the basket. The result was 15 second-half points for Pavlansky that turned the game around, saving the Bulldogs’ season.
“We realized we had to start attacking the hoop and creating some shots because you’re not going to win the game scoring 20 points,” Lewis said. “[Isolating Annie] was one of our offensive sets and we just decided, ‘That’s the matchup we need.’
“We needed to get Annie to the hoop as much as possible to get some opportunities for the other girls.”
The Bulldogs outscored Howland 18-6 in the third quarter and led 31-23. From there, the Bulldogs played keep away from the Tigers and were deadly from the free throw line down the stretch.
Lakeview shot 12-of-15 from the foul line in the fourth quarter and Howland couldn’t keep up. Pavlansky was a perfect six-of-six from the line in the final quarter.
That ferocious defensive intensity the Tigers showcased in the first half seemed to melt away in the final two quarters, which Diehl attributed to fatigue.
“Defensively we got tired,” Diehl said. “Pavlansky showed she’s a very good player. We had a hard time matching her when she was driving and when we fouled her she scored [at the foul line] too.”
Lakeview, will play Elyria Catholic on Tuesday at Barberton High School. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.