By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

At first glance, nothing about Waynflete likely struck fear into the minds of Lake Region players.

The Flyers lacked overall size.

They weren’t flashy.

But, Laker Coach Ryan Martin expected the Flyers to give his club all they could handle Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale at Nutting Gym.

“Rich Henry does a great job every year coaching his team — they are disciplined, they play hard, they are undersized a little bit but they made their free throws, they don’t gamble on defense, they rebound, they do all the things it takes to be a good team,” Coach Martin said.

He could add determined, feisty and persistent.

The Flyers pushed the Lakers hard all day, forcing the hosts to make their foul shots in the final minutes — which they did, going 7-of-8 — to secure a 52-47 victory and reach the 10-win plateau.

“We made some shots in the fourth quarter — some 3s — and that made the difference. We play well in the last eight minutes of games, but it would be nice if we could play like that for a full 32 minutes,” Coach Martin said. “It’s hard to play that hard and be consistent, but that’s what we’re striving for — be a team that can make a run in the tournament.”

If the Lakers needed a tight, pressure game before the playoffs start, the Flyers provided them with one.

Initially, the Lakers executed the game plan — dump the ball inside to burly center Jackson Libby and let him muscle to the rim for some easy hoops. Libby (9 points, 8 rebounds) scored on the team’s first two possessions. Turnovers then plagued the Lakers and the Flyers scored back-to-back hoops to take a 12-9 lead.

LR broke a 6-0 run as Jacob Stone (game-high 17 points, 8 rebounds) showed some good footwork in the lane to free himself for a bucket.

“I felt we were more athletic and bigger,” Coach Martin said. “The focus for us coming in to this game was to get the ball inside because we knew we had the size advantage. Jackson and Jake Stone are two guys who can score it inside. I don’t think we did a great job of that because we took some quick shots and some quick 3s, which we are trying to improve on.”

While LR continued to launch behind the arc, Jacob Chadbourne knocked down his second 3-ball of the half, and Stone followed with his own 3-dagger as the Lakers took a 21-19 halftime lead. Good ball movement enabled the shooters to get wide open looks, and increased their probability of making the downtown jumpers.

Coach Martin re-emphasized the need to get the ball inside, and the Lakers found success, scoring 14 points in the quarter including a strong baseline drive by Stone, who converted and added a foul shot. He again showed his strong inside-out game, swishing a 3-pointer. A quick burst and drive by Chadbourne and a Libby power move put the Lakers up 35-32 entering the final quarter.

“In the second half, we did a better job going to the rim, and a little better job putting some ball pressure on them. I thought we struggled with that in the first half and let them get too comfortable offensively,” Coach Martin said.

It appeared the Lakers might finally shake the pesky Flyers when Chadbourne (15 points, 9 rebounds) and guard Noah Duprey (10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) dropped back-to-back 3-pointers to build a 45-36 lead with 3:54 left.

“Jacob has been the most athletic player on the court every night we’ve played this year. He can do things most high school basketball players can’t do — he’s shifty, he’s athletic, he’s strong and jumps well, he can finish at the rim and shoot the 3,” Coach Martin said of the junior guard. “He has the package offensively to by a dynamic scorer at this level. He gets better, better every day. He’s someone we’re going to lean on at playoff time.”

But, Flyer senior guard Henry Hart (12 points) became a real thorn in the Lakers’ side. Hart kept the Flyers in the game with his hustle and sharpshooting. He forced a turnover and scored an easy lay-up, converted a fastbreak into two more points, knocked down a pull-up jumper and drained a 3-pointer.

“He’s a tough kid. He’s quick and shifty. I also think he understands the game very well. He’s a floor general,” Coach Martin said of Hart. “He is good on film, but even better in person. He’s an all-around good player.”

LR left the door open for the Flyers to rally by taking quick outside shots rather than run some clock and search out a higher percentage scoring chance.

“We took some bad shots when it was time and score situations. They may have been okay shots in the first half, but when it’s a three-possession game with under two minutes left, we have to work for greatshots only,” Coach Martin said. “Again, we haven’t practiced a lot the last three to four weeks because there have been so many games. It will be great for us to have a full week of practice and get a chance to work on those little things and clean a few things up.”

Junior forward Matt Adey (11 points) scored with 1:34 left as the Flyers trailed just 47-43. Just what the coach had ordered, Chadbourne drove to the hoop, was fouled and made both foul shots. The foul put the Flyers over the limit, giving LR two shots at the line for the remaining 1:07.

Adey scored again to make it 49-45.

Stone was fouled with 40.2 seconds, and he made both shots.

Nico Kirby scored off a nifty reverse lay-up to keep the Flyers alive, 51-47 with 13.2 seconds left.

LR sophomore Evan Duprey knocked down 1-of-2 foul shots to nail down a 52-47 win.

It wasn’t easy, but it was exactly the type of pressure situation Coach Martin’s group likely needed as the playoffs loom.