Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lincoln Girls Steal Win
A low-scoring girls basketball game throughout three quarters quickly escalated into a fourth quarter free-for-all with Lincoln stealing a 29-26 road win at Gentry on Dec. 16.
Both teams seemed to be one play away from taking control of the game for the duration of a frenzied fourth period.
“Our kids are starting to get back in the swing of things after not playing for three weeks,” said Lincoln coach Deon Birkes. “You can’t substitute game situations.”
A winter storm combined with freezing rain forced games to be canceled from the previous two weeks. Gentry and Lincoln were originally scheduled to play on Dec. 17 but moved the game up one day in order to make up games.
Lincoln led 21-18 early in the fourth but neither team could score on several trips up-and-down the floor. Hayle Sugg made a play for Lincoln out of sheer desire. She wanted the ball and nimbly tip-toed down the sideline after making a steal then dished to Jaycie Neeley for a lay-up giving the Lady Wolves some breathing room with a 23-18 advantage.
Gentry dodged a bullet when Lincoln missed a lay-up and came back with sophomore Haley Borgeteien-James’s old-fashioned 3-point play trimming the margin to 23-21. Shelby Rowe’s 3-pointer rimmed out for Lincoln but Madison Rich claimed the offensive rebound and was fouled making a free throw for a 24-21 Lincoln edge.
Sugg hauled in another offensive rebound but couldn’t get off a good shot in traffic and Karoline Page hit a short jumper bringing Gentry closer, at 24-23. A mental mistake led to a Gentry over- and- back violation by passing to a teammate, who hadn’t cleared the timeline and Lincoln capitalized when Rowe cranked up a trifecta sending Lincoln ahead, 27-23.
Gentry wasn’t finished yet and Page drove the lane and scored pulling Gentry to within, 27-25, late in the contest. The Lady Pioneers got the ball back with another chance to tie or take the lead when a cross-court pass sailed high over the head of a Lincoln forward and out-of-bounds. Gentry got off a shot right under the basket after a lob pass but Sugg blocked the ball out-of-bounds and on the ensuing in-bounds play Courtney Lloyd came away with a steal for Lincoln caused by a half-court trap. Lincoln twice missed shots that would have extended their lead before Gentry’s Kristen Flesner went down on one knee while retaining possession. She got up without dribbling and was whistled for traveling. Next Gentry employed a half-court trap of their own forcing a double-dribble violation. Rowe stole the ball back for Lincoln and pushed it up the floor setting up a teammate who missed a lay-up. On the fight for the rebound, Gentry sophomore Mallory Morris was fouled and stepped up to the line with a 1-and-1 opportunity in the waning seconds.
After a timeout Morris sank the first drawing Gentry to within a point, at 27-26, but the second free throw wouldn’t go down and Lloyd cleared the rebound for Lincoln and threw the outlet to Rowe racing downcourt ahead of the pack for a lay-up at the buzzer giving Lincoln a 3- point, 29-26, win.
“I was telling them to block out and step up,” Birkes said, explaining he instructed his girls to look downcourt for an opportunity to advance the ball and score rather than hold it in the backcourt.
“Points matter in conference play,” Birkes said. “We want the win but we want as many points as possible. First things first, get the win, then look for the points.”