LO boys reach consolation finals at Les Schwab Invite

By Matthew Sherman

The Lake Oswego Review, Jan 2, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Lake Oswego’s Billy Reader fends off a Tigard defender in the second round of the Les Schwab Invitational. Lake Oswego beat Tigard after an early loss to Sunset.

VERN UYETAKE / Lake Oswego Review

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The Lake Oswego boys got off to a rocky start in the prestigious Les Schwab Invitational last week but quickly made up for it, rallying to win a pair of impressive games to earn a spot in the consolation finals.

The team showed vast improvement in just a few short days following a disappointing 56-49 loss to Sunset in a game where the Lakers couldn’t seem to stop spinning their wheels.

“I was disappointed with our energy level. I don’t know why but we just weren’t ready,” coach Mark Shoff said.

Lake Oswego was lackluster on both sides of the ball, particularly on defense as Sunset jumped out to a 31-18 lead at the half.

“We weren’t running to get back on defense. It was like we were in quicksand. You just wanted to stop the game, go back to the locker room and put a battery in these guys,” Shoff said.

Perhaps most disturbingly was that the Lakers, one of the taller teams in the tournament, were outrebounded by the Apollos 22-8 in the first half despite Sunset’s tallest player checking in at 6’3”.

Lake Oswego’s second team came in and made a game of it, cutting the lead to four points but Sunset went on another run and endured a brief fourth quarter rally to move into the winner’s bracket.

The loss put the Lakers into the consolation bracket and the team needed a quick turnaround to avoid a second straight loss as it took on Tigard.

With a new, bigger starting line-up featuring 6’8” Billy Reader and 6’4” sophomore Max Livingston the Lakers upped their commitment to defense and it showed.

Lake Oswego held the Tigers to just 10 first-half points completely taking away its inside game in the process.

Max Jacobsen was credited with five blocked shots in the game as Tigard settled for jump shots for most of the contest.

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