The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
Looking to keep their season alive, the Lakewood girls basketball team was unable to overcome a slow start during a 67-53 loss to Lynwood in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA playoffs Saturday night.
With some tenacious defense and some timely baskets Lynwood’s Shanilah Ewing scored 9 points as the Knights jumped out to a 20-13 lead.
“I think we let their energy dictate the way that we were gonna play instead of just being true to who we were, playing our game and stuff,” Lakewood senior Nyemah King said.
That energy continued in the second quarter as Lynwood’s Skyy Simmons scored 11 points for the Knights as they outscored Lakewood 21-10 to take a 41-23 lead into the break.
King and Lakewood started the third period strong, but some turnovers cut the Lancers comeback short after they cut the Knights lead to 11.
“I feel like second half was a little better,” King said. “We came out with more energy. We had that dog us to win and score in the second half, so I’m still proud of that.”
With a deep rotation, Lynwood had three Knights finish in double digits as Simmons and Ewing scored a team-high 15 points and Lunden Edwards scored 13.
King finished with a game-high 21 points.
“It’s been a great season,” King said. “It’s been like a roller coaster. It was a lot of highs, a lot of those.”
