"The Lakeland girls basketball team celebrates its 49-35 win over the Sandpoint Bulldogs in the Battle for the Paddle spirit game at Hawk Court in Rathdrum on Friday." LOREN BENOIT/Press

"RATHDRUM — The vibe in the Lakeland locker room was one of focus and determination.

Then it showed on the court.

Katy Ryan had 19 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and five blocked shots for the Hawks in a 49-35 win over the Sandpoint Bulldogs in the Battle for the Paddle spirit game at Hawk Court on Friday.

“Defensively, I thought we did a really good job of being aggressive when we could and being in the right place,” Lakeland coach Steve Seymour said. “Our rotations were good and the kids were fired up and ready to play. You never know what you’re going to get with a spirit game, but the vibe in the locker room was that they wanted to get out and play, and they certainly played well.”

Lakeland led 23-8 at halftime, but Sandpoint cut the deficit to 35-24 after the third quarter.

Lakeland beat Sandpoint for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

“Sandpoint made a run in the third quarter and closed the gap, but the girls withstood the charge and knocked down some shots and tightened the defense and bringing the momentum back to our bench,” Seymour said. “It was a good win on many fronts. They just played steady and solid for four quarters.”

Taylor Elpers had 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Lakeland (7-10, 2-0 4A IEL), which travels to Moscow on Thursday.

Maddie Morgan scored 11 points for Sandpoint (3-12, 1-1).

Sandpoint 5 3 16 11 — 35

Lakeland 10 13 12 14 — 49

SANDPOINT — Lish 0, Steiger 0, Edwards 2, Morgan 11, Driggs 5, Larson 3, Phillips 5, Anderson 0, Banks 9, Petit 0.

LAKELAND — Boyer 0, Cooper 0, Kime 0, Cooley 2, McDevitt 0, Elpers 11, Loutzenhiser 9, Kirk 4, Ryan 19, Pruitt 4, Neff 0."

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