Photo by Jake McNeill: Lakeview forward Breylon Breyfogle (3) goes up for a layup in traffic during a prep boys basketball game against Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda at the Candy Cane Classic at Minneota High School on Saturday. The Lakers defeated the Coyotes to earn their first win of the season.

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MINNEOTA — A first-half rally made all the difference for the Lakeview boys basketball team on Saturday afternoon when it took on Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda on the second day of the Minneota Candy Cane Classic. The Lakers closed the half on an 18-2 run to seize all momentum in a 64-45 win over the Coyotes, marking their first victory of the season.

The bulk of the first quarter was back-and-forth but Lakeview surged ahead once they got into the bonus with seven minutes remaining. With the game tied at 14-14, the Lakers went on a 15-0 run to seize all momentum. The extended run came despite struggles at the free throw line.

Trevor Tusberg started the run by making the first of his two free throws to give Lakeview the lead, and Braylon Breyfogle got the offensive rebound on the second for a putback layup. On the opposite end of the floor, Breyfogle got fouled while going for a defensive rebound and earned another pair of Laker free throws, making the first to make Lakeview’s lead 18-14 with five minutes remaining.

Now in the double bonus for the remainder of the half, Breyfogle and Carson Boe each knocked down contested layups to prompt an HLOF, trailing by 8 points with four minutes to play.

Still, the Lakers’ momentum wouldn’t stop. Breyfogle knocked down another layup, Tusbrg got a putback bucket after a pair of Lakeview misses at the charity stripe, and Cody Helmke made the first of his two free throws to make the score 27-14. Hemke’s second attempt also went down but was nullified by a Laker lane violation.

Helmke got one more putback basket to make the score 29-14 before HLOF, now in the bonus, made a pair of free throws on a 1-and-1 with 36.9 seconds left in the quarter. Yet, Breyfogle milked the clock on the other end before knocking down a stepback 3 on the half’s final possession, sending Lakeview to the locker room with a 32-16 advantage.

Lakeview had momentum going into halftime but HLOF wasn’t ready to wave the white flag yet. The Lakers scored the first points of the half but the Coyotes responded with an 8-2 run to get back into the game, trailing 36-24. Still, Breyfogle ripped a rebound away from a Coyote for a putback and tenacious defense from Dylan Caron helped for HLOF into a turnover to help Lakeview get its mojo back.

The Coyotes eventually trimmed Lakeview’s lead to 10 points, 38-28, but a pair of free throws from Breyfogle, another from Jackson Staab, a pair of layups from Helmke and Breyfogle and a Boe floater kept the Coyotes at bay with a 9–0 run.

It took HLOF until the final eight minutes of the game to get back on the scoreboard, hitting pair of layups to end another long scoring drought. With Lakeview leading by as many as 19 points, the Coyotes were never able to get within striking distance.

With four minutes left, Boe made four consecutive free throws after HLOF was called for a pair of technical fouls. The Lakers also retained possession after the free throws and Tusbrg banked in a 3 from the top of the key to bring Lakeview’s lead back up to 19 points, 58-37. The Lakers scored again on the next possession to earn their largest lead of the game, 60-37,

Lakeview improves to 1-4 on the season with the win. The Lakers will look to make it two in a row when they go on the road to take on the winless Canby Lakers (0-5) on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.