WESTMINSTER - The final score doesn't do justice just how well the Conifer Lobos boys basketball team played in the final three quarters against host Standley Lake on Feb. 8. Unfortunately, it was the first quarter — more specifically the first 4 minutes — that was the Lobos' undoing.
Standley Lake, behind a combination of 3-point shooting and backdoor cuts to the basket, scored the game's first 17 points and never looked back in a 61-36 victory.
Jake Latzer scored a game-high 20 points — 18 in the first half — and Sebastian Meadows added 13, including four 3-pointers, to pace the Gators (2-4).
“We were all prepared. We knew that we've been putting in the work in practice, so we came out and played our game,” Latzer said.
Still, Conifer (0-6), which has lost by an average of 40.5 points per game this season, held its own after the Gators jumped out to the early lead.
“This was our best four quarters we've played even though the score doesn't indicate what we want,” Conifer head coach Patrick Fairchild said. “This is probably the proudest we as coaches have been of the kids, too. The energy was there on the defensive end. The kids were flexible, and we started throwing some different things at them defensively and the kids were ready to do it.”
Though the Lobos continue to grow after graduating four of their top five scorers from a season ago, senior Ben Lack can see the development coming, especially on the defensive end. That was evident against the Gators, especially over the final 19 minutes where Conifer was only outscored 25-23.
“(It was) just the defensive intensity really. We were getting on the boards in the second half, switching on defense and talking,” said Lack, who finished with a team-high 12 points — 11 of those in the first half. “(We were) doing all the things right that we could. Even though we lost, we still played hard.”
Noah Bishop finished with eight points, while Carson Kennedy added six for the Lobos.
“The last three quarters of the game we competed. We had better energy. I think as a coach I could've been prepared for what they did to us in the first quarter and that's how they jumped out to that big lead. But the kids responded. They didn't have any quit in them tonight,” Fairchild said.
