Lincoln Girls Eye Tourney

BENCH WORK ETHIC PLEASANT SURPRISE FOR COACH

LINCOLN — Lincoln came into last week of the regular season gearing up to host the 4A-1 District basketball tournament.

First-year Lincoln coach Emilianne Slamons knows her girls must shoot well during the tournament.

“Walking into it, hosting the district tournament is a positive for us,” Slamons said. “But everybody plays good at Lincoln. Boys or girls everybody seems to shoot good in our gym.”

For Slammons the biggest surprise in her first season at the helm has been a pleasant one.

“The grit that my bench players have every day in practice because they make the seven kids that play work really hard in practice,” Slamons said. “Because they know that someday their turn will come.”

The Lady Wolves were seeded fifth and face rival Prairie Grove won 40-21 and earned a berth in the Regional tournament at Berryville while the loss meant the end of the Lady Wolves’ season. The winner advances and earns a berth in the Regional tournament next week at Berryville, while the loser’s season is over.

Elkins 51, Lincoln 46

Elkins used a 17-12 scoring advantage in the third to topple the Lincoln girls basketball team, 51-46, in a rescheduled game played Wednesday, Feb. 7.

Lincoln led 24-20 at the half, but was outscored 31-22 over the final two quarters. Elkins was led by Shelby Diaville with 17 points and Konley Kester with 12. Two Lady Wolves scored in double figures, Robin Kirk with 16 and Jessica Goldman with 12.

ELKINS 51, LINCOLN 46

Elkins 12 8 17 14 — 51 Lincoln 11 13 12 10 — 46 Elkins (16-8, 11-6): Individual scoring totals not available. Lincoln (14-12, 9-8): Robin Kirk 16, Jessica Goldman 12, Tristan Cunningham 6, Hollie Webb 3, Averi Massey 3.

Lincoln 35, Pea Ridge 29

Lincoln won on the road at Pea Ridge Jan. 30 to complete a season sweep over the Lady Blackhawks.

The Lady Wolves jumped out to a 13-6 first quarter lead which they extended to a 23-14 halftime advantage. Although Pea Ridge outscored Lincoln 9-6 in the third quarter, the teams played even in the fourth and Lincoln went on to a 35-29 win. Jessica Goldman had 12 points and Robin Kirk joined her in double figures with 11 for Lincoln.

LINCOLN 35, PEA RIDGE 29

Lincoln 13 10 6 6 — 35 Pea Ridge6 8 9 6 — 29 Lincoln (14-10, 9-6): Jessica Goldman 12, Robin Kirk 11, Hollie Webb 6, Tristan Cunningham 6. Pea Ridge (10-14, 7-8): Individual totals not available.

Gravette 53, Lincoln 37

Three-point shots weren’t falling for Gravette (16-4), but the Lady Lions found other ways to score on the second day of consecutive competition.

The mark of a quality team is when the bread and butter of an offense isn’t working, they have something to fall back on. Gravette posted a 53-37 win over Lincoln (11-10) behind 19 points from Kyrstin Branscum, who had the Lady Lions’ only 3-point field goal of the contest. Gravette was pushed to the limit the night before and overcame a six-point deficit on the road at Pea Ridge. Despite not scoring for the final four minutes Gravette held on for an emotional 58-56 win. They returned home and tipped off against Lincoln in a rare Saturday night game played Jan. 20.

“We had a tough game with Pea Ridge that we won by two points Friday, then we had to come back and play on Saturday,” said Gravette coach Will Pittman. “Lincoln played pretty well. We wore them down in the fourth quarter and at the end.”

While Gravette couldn’t find the hoop from long-range, Lincoln uncorked six 3-pointers during the game. Despite that disparity the Lady Lions outscored Lincoln in every quarter. Gravette built a 31-23 halftime lead and led 39-28 going into the fourth quarter.

Jessica Bookout added 10 points for the Lady Lions. Tristan Cunningham and Hollie Webb each had eight points for Lincoln.

GRAVETTE 53, LINCOLN 37

Lincoln 12 11 5 9 — 37 Gravette 15 16 8 14 — 53 Lincoln (11-10): Hollie Webb 3 1-2 8, Tristan Cunningham 4 0-0 8, Madison Jones 2 0-0 6, Robin Kirk 3 0-1 6, Jessica Goldman 2 1-3 5, Averi Massey 1 1-2 4. Totals 15 3-8 37.

Gravette (16-4): Kyrstin Branscum 7 4-6 19, Jessica Bookout 4 2-4 10, Teagan Dixon 4 1-2 9, Tori Foster 3 1-2 7, Gabbi Curtis 1 2-4 4, Shylee Morrison 1 0-0 2, Mallory Smith 0 2-2 2. Totals 20 10-20 53. 3-Point Goals — Lincoln 6 (T. Cunningham 2, Jones 2, H. Webb, Massey). Gravette 1 (Branscum).