Photo by Samantha Davis. Lakeview's Carson Boe begins to drive toward the basket in the first half against Central Minnesota Christian in the Section 3A North subsection quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Montevideo High School. Boe finished with 14 points in the Lakers' 68-41 loss.

MONTEVIDEO — With just a 6-point halftime deficit up against two-seeded Central Minnesota Christian, the No. 7 Lakeview boys basketball team put up a fight and was on the verge of an upset, but lost control late in the second half in its 68-41 loss in the Section 3A North subsection quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Montevideo High School.

“Game wise, they [the players] did everything we asked. We said, ‘Guys, we got to come ready to fight. CMCS is obviously a very good program. Take the fight to them,’ and our guys did that,” Lakeview head coach Jared Keaveny said. “We ran out of gas, and the score ended up a bit more lopsided than we were hoping, but that’s not because of how hard we worked … Everyone who stepped on the court just brought it. I was very proud of them.”

Down 29-23, the second half was touch and go as CMC slowly began to pull away, but Lakeview stayed within reach up until the final few minutes when the Bluejays began to take advantage of their height and defense.

Ian Taylor drew an offensive charge which resulted in a 3-pointer for Landon Albertson to keep the Lakers within 5 points, to which Braylon Breyfogle hit a 3 immediately after to bring the score within a possession, down 37-35 with 12 minutes to go.

The Bluejays’ Asher Wieberdink, who stands at 6-foot-7, began to heat up and was a prominent force on both ends of the court to help separate the two teams. After sinking a 3 to put CMC ahead 42-35, Keaveny called a timeout.

Wieberdink finished with a game-high 25 points and went 10 for 11 at the free throw line.

CMC extended on its run, hitting another 3-pointer followed by a string of field goals to put Lakeview in a 53-39 deficit.

Complimenting their shot making, the Bluejays focused in on the defensive end and flustered the Lakers with a handful of steals and tips out of bounds through a full court press.

“They [CMC] got us out of our rhythm in the traps, and we made some poor passes, and they converted them,” Keaveny said. “They got too many transition buckets and got themselves away.”

Keaveny called another timeout after CMC grabbed two more steals off the press with a 62-41 advantage with four minutes left.

“We talked about taking it one game at a time, and they’re [CMC] going to make a run. I think maybe in the second half, it got away from us a little bit. I think we started to panic and got a little bit desperate,” Keaveny said. “But early on, probably for the first 28 minutes, we were very disciplined. We took it one game at a time, and that’s how we stood in there.”

CMC kept its control to seal the game, and Keaveny subbed out his seniors in Jared Gregoire, Carson Boe, Albertson, Tyden Marczak and Dylan Caron with 1:15 left, hugging them individually as they came off the court.

“What the seniors are leaving is, we’ve always tried to emphasize being the hardest worker on the team … Our guys just took it to a new level this year,” Keaveny said. “We told you guys, the legacy that they’re going to leave is that this is probably the hardest working team that I’ve had in my 10 years.”

Boe led the Lakers with 14 points, 10 coming in the first half, and Breyfogle followed with 10 points.

Lakeview made it into the tournament with a commanding 67-25 victory over No. 10 Canby in Thursday night’s play-in round. The Lakers also fell in the last season’s section second round with a 71-35 defeat from top-seeded Dawson-Boyd.

Lakeview and CMC met once in the regular season, when the Bluejays walked away with a 63-47 win on Jan. 27.

The Bluejays had a few early steals to start the game, but the two traded baskets with one another for a majority of the first half.

The Lakers had their fair share of strong defensive plays, and supporters filled the gym with excitement as they forced a shot clock violation, which they also did on another occasion minutes later.

Marczak brought Lakeview within a point, 16-15, after sinking a pair of free throws, and the game got tied up at 20 after Boe nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner.

CMC switched throughout the game between zone and man defense, and Weiberdink along with Carter Taatjes made it tough down low for Lakeview to get to the basket with a handful of blocks.

Boe hit another 3 with two minutes to go, as did CMC’s Taatjes in response, to put the Lakers at a 29-23 halftime deficit.

Lakeview finishes its season 10-16 overall, an increase from its 2024 6-22 overall campaign.