HS Boys Hoops: Lakes battles through slow start to top North Thurston in OT

1/29/2025

Lakes 72, North Thurston 61 (OT)

(Lacey, WA) Lakes came into this game with a 1 game lead over North Thurston for 1st place in the Nisqually division of the Puget Sound League. However, Lakes had lost to North Thurston earlier so a loss here would move the Rams into a tie for 1st but give North Thurston the tie-breaker for sweeping the Lancers. Both teams knew the importance of this game as they wrap up league play on Friday and begin their league tournament next week.

The Rams came out firing with their offense dominating the 1st half. Micah Anderson scored 12 of his 22 in the 1st half and 5 Rams got in the score book with Anderson, Jorden Walker and Liam Sheeran all hitting 3 balls. For Lakes, Jalen Boone didn’t start and would end up leading the Lancers with 7 points at the break but North Thurston was in charge with a 35-26 lead and nearly had an 11 point lead after Sheeran stole the ball with 2 seconds to go but missed a shot at the buzzer.

The 3rd quarter looked like this game might be a blow out with NT hitting a pair of 3’s from Sheeran and Rudy Larson to go up by 15 points. But the Lancers dug in and battled through cold shooting and stayed in touch scratching back to just a 6 point deficit heading into the 4th quarter.

It felt like a bucket of ice cold water was dumped on the Rams offense as they struggled to get anything going meantime the momentum and confidence was growing with each minute for the Lancers. Lakes would surge and take a 4 point lead late in the 4th quarter. North Thurston showed a ton of grit and dug in scrapping back to tie it and head to OT.

Boone continued to drop in buckets and score 19 of his game high 26 in the 2nd half and OT. But it was a trio of 3 balls from Khaleb Chisolm and Darius Imperial that really put Lakes right back in the game. Those three would finish the game in double figures. In the OT a key series which you can see below in the video highlights saw Deonte’ Jones with two key defensive plays that led to Boone and Chisolm scoring which ended up being more than enough to clinch this critical win. Bryce McCray and Aaron Miller both had solid outings with McCray scoring 4 with 7 rebounds and Miller with 6 and 7 boards. Mikey Stroud also chipped in on the scoring a 3 pointer.

Kurt Cavalier and Anderson led the offense for the Rams. Anderson finished with 22 and Cavalier had a dozen with 8 in the 2nd half. Two others also hit twin figures with Sheeran finishing with 11 and Jorden Walker with 10. Anderson and Larson led in rebounding with 6 each.

Another huge advantage for Lakes was at the free throw line hitting 17 of 23 or 74% while the Rams shot just 40% going 6 for 15. Jalen Boone went 7 for 8 which contributed to his 26 game high points. Boone also pulled down 9 boards just missing a double-double and for his effort was our Thorbeckes MVP of the game.

The Lancers improve to 10-5 in league play and 13-6 overall and will host Peninsula on Friday to wrap up their league schedule. North Thurston went from being in control of at least tying for 1st place to tied for 3rdf with River Ridge. Timberline moves into 2nd place with a win over Peninsula and River Ridge knocked off Capital.

League Standings

PSL Nisqually