Wolves Storm Back In Second Half

WEST FORK — Lincoln exploded for 50 second-half points to wipe out a 34-24 halftime deficit and beat Mansfield, 74-64, in the firstround of the District 3A-1 West tournament.

Playing on West Fork’s home court Monday, Feb. 11, the Wolves (13-13) evened their record with the victory.

Junior Chase Hutchens knocked down a trio of 3-pointers in the first 2:30 to soften up the Tigers’ defense.

Lincoln coach Tim Rich said that was a key that triggered the second-half surge.

“Hutchens really helped us get rolling to start the second half, came out fired up some threes, did a great job on getting the spark lit,” Rich said.

Mansfield (5-19) upped its lead to 50-37 on Jo Jo Bailey’s inside bucket with just inside three minutes to play in the third, but Lincoln closed out the quarter on a 12-3 run.

Malik Bagsby crashed the offensive glass and drew a foul. He made both free throws then drilled an 18-footer on the wing. Cam Brown stole the ball and waited for his teammates, then got the ball back and promptly canned a three.

Jake Smith hit a 3-pointer for Mansfield with 26.4 seconds left in the third, but Lincoln scored twice in the last 13.7 seconds. Caleb Hale got a bucket and following a turnover Bagsby nailed a trifecta at the buzzer pulling the Wolves within, 53-49.

Mansfield used a variety of defenses to try and contain Lincoln sharpshooter Sterling Morphis, forcing the Wolves to get their offense from his teammates.

“They threw a lot of different looks at us from triangles to

box-and-one. They kept mixing it up and finally I found a combination that worked for us,” Rich said.

Brown’s athleticism became a factor down the stretch. After Morphis’ steal and lay-in, Brown sank 2-of-2 foul shots to tie the game at the 7:28 mark. For the next four-and-a-half minutes the teams traded punches like a pair of heavyweight boxers each trying to knock out the other.

Hutchens’ free throws gave Lincoln its first secondhalf lead, but Smith’s layup evened the score for Mansfield. Brown drilled a 3-pointer on a kickout by Hale and the Wolves held the lead for 3:16. Smith’s 3-pointer from the corner evened the score at 64-all with 3:04 remaining, but Lincoln locked out the Tigers from scoring for the rest of the contest.

Bagsby finished the break on a pass from Hale to start a 10-0 Lincoln run. Brown’s steal led to Morphis’ old-fashioned 3-point play. He then hit 3-of-4 free throws and sealed the game with a steal and lay-in. Morphis scored 14 points in the quarter drawing a salute from his coach for stretching the lead out.

“He (Morphis) did, down the stretch put in some big free throws for us to help extend it and really took some of the pressure off there at the end,” Rich said. “Hutchens got us clicking to start the second half and it just kind of built from there.”

LINCOLN 74, MANSFIELD 64

Mansfield 20 14 19 11 – 64 Lincoln 12 12 25 25 – 74 Mansfield (5-19): Jake Smith 8 1-1 20, Layton Howard 8 1-2 18, Codi Chick 5 4-4 15, Colton Stipins 3 0-0 6, Jo Jo Bailey 1 1-2 3, Tyler Holmes 0 2-2 2. Totals 25 9-11 64. Lincoln (13-13): Sterling Morphis 8 6-7 22, Chase Hutchens 4 4-4 15, Malik Bagsby 6 2-2 15, Cam Brown 4 2-2 13, Caleb Hale 2 0-2 4, Cole Criscom 1 1-2 4, Daytin Davis 0 1-2 1. Totals 25 16-21 74.

3-Point Goals — Mansfield 5 (Smith 3, Howard, Chick). Lincoln 8 (Hutchens 3, Brown 3, Bagsby, Criscom).

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Lincoln junior Chase Hutchens attacks the basket. He scored 15 points during the Wolves’ 74-64 win over Mansfield on Monday, Feb. 11 during the District 3A-1 West tournament at West Fork.