An already understaffed North Tahoe boys basketball team took two tough blows over the weekend, dropping home games to Lowry on Friday night and Spring Creek on Saturday.

Perhaps the toughest setback the Lakers suffered in the past week was the loss of star senior Michael Forte to a season-ending broken foot.

Averaging a team-high 20.1 points per game this season, the Lakers’ captain broke his fifth metatarsal during practice last week and is projected to be out for six to eight weeks.

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With their leading scorer out, the all the Lakers could do Friday night was give it their all, and that’s exactly what they did.

Despite North Tahoe battling, creating opportunities and working hard on defense, Lowry walked away with its first win at North Tahoe in head Laker coach David Hansen’s memory, 67-41.

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“When you remove a key player like Forte, that’s difficult,” Hansen said.

On Saturday, one of North Tahoe’s most fierce defenders, Michele Basile, was out for a funeral.

With only six players, the Lakers fell prey to visiting Spring Creek, which walked away with a 57-35 victory.

Despite the final scores, every single North Tahoe player scored in both games.

Against Spring Creek the Lakers were led by Spencer Marple, who had nine points. Taylor Goode finished with eight, Oscar Appel seven and Brent Marple six.

On Friday night Taylor Goode led the team in scoring with 12 points, followed by Spencer Marple with 10, Basile with six and Appel with five.

While the Lakers could have gotten frustrated as their opponent extended its lead, North Tahoe players showed character by spreading the ball around and never letting up on either end of the court.

“They always go hard,” Hansen said after Friday night’s game. “You really can’t question their heart.”

Not only does North Tahoe have heart, but the players are probably some of the most fit in the league. They have to be to battle teams with rosters twice as big.

That fitness, and that heart, will be tested in the Lakers’ remaining eight games this season, the first of which come this Friday and Saturday when the Lakers face Incline on the road and Fernley on Dollar Hill.

North Tahoe plays at Incline on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and hosts Fernley on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.