The Cougars set out to win all three Cascade Conference games Jan. 17-20 and found themselves with a big check mark next to that goal as they improved to 4-3 and 7-6 overall.
Lakewood defeated Coupeville, South Whidbey and Cedarcrest by using improved defense.
Veteran coach Ron Thovilson said his squad had three tough games and was pleased to win them all.
We wanted to go 3-0 and we did. In all of them we played pretty good defense and I think we did a good job of controlling the tempo and didnt let them get second chances.

Saturday, Jan. 20

At Cedarcrest H.S.

Lakewood 10 17 22 9 58
Cedarcrest 14 11 9 10 44

Lakewood Boyce 6, Spencer 3, Borisov 10, Noteboom 15, Loucks 24. Cedarcrest Leland 8, Hammontree 8, Coltom 12, Padron 10, Cook 3, Fromm 3. 3-point goals Hammontree 2, Coltom 1, Cook 1, Borisov 1, Noteboom 1. Records Lakewood 4-3 in league play and 7-6 overall. Cedarcrest 0-4, 1-8.

Friday, Jan. 19

At Lakewood H.S.

S. Whidbey 6 6 13 8 33
Lakewood 15 8 6 12 41

South Whidbey Anderson 9, Barnett 6, Blakely 9, E. Stallman 5, S. Stallman 4, Hosmar 3. Lakewood Boyce 4, Loucks 5, Spencer 15, Borisov 7, S. Noteboom 10. 3-point goals Anderson 1, Blakely 1, E. Stalllman 1, Borisov 1, S. Noteboom 2.
Records S. Whidbey 2-4 in league play and 4-7 overall. Lakewood 3-3, 6-6.

Welcome to the roller coaster that was the Lakewood Cougars versus the Coupeville Wolves. Playing in front of a dozen cheerleaders and a portion of the marching band, the Wolves got off to a 4-0 start before Lakewood responded with a 7-0 run of their own en route to a 51-39 Cascade Conference victory Wednesday, Jan. 17.
The Cougars improved to 2-3 in league play and 5-6 overall in the first of three games in a four-day stretch.
Coupeville fell to 0-6, 4-8.
Senior center John Loucks led all scorers with 19 points in addition to pulling down seven rebounds and blocking six shots.
Fellow senior Dan Spencer dropped in 16 points in the winning effort along with seven rebounds and grabbing five steals.
Thorvilson described the relatively low-scoring contest as a solid game.
Loucks had a wonderful game defensively and did a wonderful job overall, he said.
With Lakewood leading 7-4 Coupeville called a timeout and responded with a quick hoop, but Sean Noteboom and Loucks dropped in five additional points to make it 12-6 after one quarter of play.
Senior Dan Borisov drained a three-pointer to make it 15-9 and after a rallying trey from the Wolves, the Cougars went on a 10-3 run to end the second quarter. Noteboom, Loucks and Dan Spencer combined for the 10 points, allowing Lakewood to take a 27-15 lead into the locker room.
The Wolves made a valiant comeback attempt in the third quarter as they outscored the Cougars 14-10 in the eight-minute frame, but were unable to get any closer than eight points.
Coupeville took advantage of a handful of Lakewood turnovers as they cut the deficit to 37-29 heading into the final quarter of play.
As a coach you always want that perfect game, but these guys are making the effort and I am pretty happy, Thorvilson said afterward.
Loucks opened the fourth quarter with four quick points to expand the lead to 41-32 and after one Coupeville free-throw Spencer added a fast break hoop for a 10-point cushion.
The trio of Loucks, Noteboom and Borisov put to rest any hopes of a Coupeville comeback as they cruised on to the 51-39 league victory.
Defensively any time you hold a team under 40 points you are doing a wonderful job, Thorvilson said with a smile.
The bottom line is that were not the quickest team in the world. The irony is that we have one of the bigger (taller) Lakewood teams and yet we are also one of the slowest big teams.
He added that the teams goal is to go 3-0 this week and improve their first half league record to 4-3.

At Lakewood H.S.

Coupeville 6 9 14 10 39
Lakewood 12 15 10 14 51

Coupeville Larson 3, Smith 12, Tucker 4, Prosser 1, OKeefe 5, Farmer 4, Miller 10. Lakewood Boyce 2, Spencer 16, Borisov 7, S. Noteboom 7, Loucks 19. 3-point goals OKeefe 1, Borisov 1, S. Noteboom 1. Records Coupeville 0-6 in league play and 4-8 overall. Lakewood 2-3, 5-6.