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4A

Lakeland (10-11), in its first trip to state since 2009, opens vs. Caldwell (19-5) today at 5:15 p.m. PST at Timberline High in Boise.

“We worked a lot harder this season,” Lakeland senior guard Lauryn Cooper said. “And we had a lot more girls that worked harder this season, and we all came together as a team, and made it happen.

“Nothing huge changed; we just maybe changed our mindset and got a few new players,” she added.

Hawks senior Taylor Elpers agreed.

“After a while it wasn’t about winning anymore,” she said. “It was just about playing the game, and getting better, and then winning just came with that.”

At the beginning of the season, Lakeland coach Steve Seymour said he told the seniors it was up to them to lead the charge if the Hawks didn’t want to go through a seventh straight losing season.

Lakeland was 4-16 last year.

“We put more pressure on the seniors,” Seymour said. “I told them we have the talent to be there at the end of the season, but only if we commit.

“The seniors have done a great job.”

Caldwell is on a resurgence of late; the Cougars are making their third trip to state in four seasons. However, Caldwell went two-and-out in its previous two appearances during this run.

Middleton (22-2) and Century (24-0) of Pocatello, the tourney favorites, are on the same side of the bracket and could meet in the semifinals. Middleton won the state title in 2017, Century won it in 2015 and ’16.

Burley, last year’s champion, didn’t qualify."