Bailey Propels Lakewood Past Regis
12/16/2016
After starting the season 4-0, the Lakewood Tigers looked to be on the fast track to becoming one of the most feared teams in the state. However, a last-second loss at Cherokee Trail and then an overtime loss to ThunderRidge took some of the shine of the Tigers. It looked as though that the same problems that had plagued Lakewood in the past were going to come back to haunt them yet again against the Regis Jesuit Raiders on Friday night.
It was an all too familiar story in the first half for the Tigers. Lakewood built an 8-0 lead off of two three-pointers from Dallas Bailey and a put back by senior Jacob Storey. Bailey was excellent from behind the arch and attacking the basket on his way to a game-high 24 points. It would be the largest lead of the game for either team. After being shut out for nearly the first 4:00 minutes of the first quarter the Raiders went on a 16-6 run powered by sophomore Payton Egloff and junior Sam Bannec. Bannec scored 12 of the Raiders 16 points in the first quarter in a variety of ways deep threes, free throw line pull-up jumpers, and dramatic finishes off the drive.
Again in the second quarter with the Raiders leading 16-14, Lakewood scored seven straight points including five points from senior guard Kolton Peterson to take the 21-16 lead. During the Tigers run, the Raiders failed to attack the basket, and if they did, the Raiders failed to get the rebounds. Egloff again hit a three-pointer to break the scoreless streak mid-way through the second quarter. Bailey responded with a layup to put the Tigers up 23-19 with 2:10 left in the half. Both teams had moments where they struggled getting the ball in the basket. But Raider sophomore guard Jamil Safieddine hit this shot at the buzzer to complete a Raiders 5-0 run. Lakewood had failed again at taking care of the ball and making layups down the stretch allowing a team to grab the lead at the end of a quarter of half. The Raiders led 24-23 at halftime.
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Bannec started the scoring off in the third quarter for the Raiders. Safieddine quickly added a traditional three-point play to give Regis their largest lead of the game 29-25 with 6:30 left in the quarter. Bailey would answer for the Tigers with his third three-pointer of the contest. This quarter was different with Lakewood gaining the late lead behind baskets from Storey and Peterson. The Tigers then topped off the quarter with free throws from Ezekiel Sundberg for the 38-34 lead.
The Lakewood lead would not last for long. A missed Tiger dunk led to a fast break for the Raiders that ended in a corner three-pointer for Egloff. Bannec added two more mid-range jumpers to tie the score at 41 with six minutes left to play. Over the next five minutes of play neither team could score the knockout basket with the lead changing hands multiple times. Safieddine and Bannec hit shots for the Raiders. Peterson hit the go-ahead three for Lakewood with 2:57 left on the clock, he then grabbed two defensive rebounds and took a charge on successive plays to maintain a 51-49 lead with 1:30 remaining.
Peterson then hit Bailey with a bullet pass for a layup to put Lakewood up 53-50 with 1:00 left in the game. Bannec would keep hitting free throws to cut the Lakewood lead to 1, but Peterson again hit a streaking Bailey with another pass for a layup to put the lead back up to three. After a jump ball off a missed Regis three-pointer, Bailey was fouled, and he sank both free throws to ice the game 58-53.
Regis takes on Cherokee Trail on Saturday and Lakewood heads to Christmas Break to prepare for Denver East on 1/9.
Double Digit Scorers
Lakewood
Dallas Bailey 24
Jacob Storey 15
Kolton Peterson 13
Regis Jesuit
Sam Bannec 23
Jamil Safieddine 14
