LCA Cougars Fall In SemifinalsWATERFORD MILLS – Lakeland Christian Academy found itself in a deep hole early on, far too deep to fully recover in a 87-51 loss to No. 7 Fort Wayne Blackhawk in the 1A Bethany Christian boys basketball sectional semifinals Friday night. LCA trailed 20-3 early, and the Braves led 30-14 at the end of the first period and 58-30 at halftime. Blackhawk then removed any doubt with a 21-6 third quarter. The Cougars, averaging about 42 points a game coming in to the sectional, played up to their abilities in the eyes of their head coach. “We actually played pretty well. Blackhawk is just very good. They have a lot of athletes and a lot of good shooters, and they jumped on us pretty good at the beginning,” said Chris Hohm. “We went in to desperation mode a little bit and kicked up our defense. We did better against handling their pressure, and actually outscored them for a stretch before halftime. But then they took it to us in the third quarter.” A bright spot for Lakeland Christian was Josh McDaniel, who hit five three-pointers and finished with a career-high 30 points. “(McDaniel) was definitely not intimidated by the moment,” Hohm said. “He came out strong. Part of it was he created some shots for himself, and some of it was our other guards handling the ball and getting him some easy looks early on.” Landon Twombly added 12 points and tied with Eli Raymond for team-high honors with six rebounds. Blackhawk had four players in double figures, paced by Jalan Mull’s 22 points. With no seniors on the team, and a clear difference in skill levels, Hohm wanted the Cougars to glean every bit of experience and information possible from the game. He reminded his team they have come a long way from a one-win season two years ago. “We told them to embrace the moment.,” Hohm said. “There was a stretch where we were down 30 and heads started to drop a little bit. I pulled aside a couple of our younger guys and told them ‘you can’t get this type of competition in practice. We don’t have the athletes to go against it. So use this as practice and embrace that moment.’ “I think we’re better at not being mentally beat before the game even starts. But obviously the skill factor comes in when they’re a little bit bigger, faster and stronger.” Blackhawk (17-9) advanced to play Lakewood Park Christian, a 64-34 winner over Hamilton in the other semifinal. Lakeland Christian finished its season with an 8-16 record.
