Huntsville shoots past Lincoln

LINCOLN — Jack Eaton shook his head and trotted back down the court after his pull-up jumper in the lane rolled off the rim.

Huntsville did not shoot the ball particularly well in the first half of its 4A-1 Conference basketball game on Friday, Jan. 8. But the way the Eagles played on the defensive end more than made up for it.

Huntsville got a game-high 16 points from senior point guard River Gosvener, and Eaton finished with 15 as the Eagles rolled over Lincoln 53-27 in the Wolves Den.

“We played real well defensively the whole game,” Eagles coach Jim Stafford said. “They made some shots the second half, but we played real good defense. We didn’t shoot it very well, but their defense may have had something to do with that.”

The Eagles (15-1, 4-0 4A-1) scored just 19 points in the first half — 12 from Eaton and Gosvener. But Lincoln (3-8, 0-4) managed just 5 as Huntsville took a 14-point lead into halftime. Huntsville forced 12 Lincoln turnovers in the first half.

Lincoln came out of the break and attacked Huntsville from the perimeter with 6-foot-4 sophomore

Troy Sugg knocking down a 3-pointer to pull the Wolves within 19- 8. But 11 points was as close as Lincoln would get the rest of the way.

“I don’t know if it was a lid on the bucket, but their defense played well,” Lincoln coach Tim Rich said. “We didn’t even get too many shots up in the first half. I thought our guys did a great job adjusting to it coming out in the second half and working the ball and getting some looks. But you can’t have a first half where you get very few looks.”

Huntsville knocked down four 3-pointers in the third quarter, three by junior guard Ty Bohannan, and took a 37-20 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Eagles opened the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run as Eaton nailed a 3-pointer with 7 minutes, 32 seconds left and Gosvener hit three straight buckets, including a steal and length-of-the-court layup for a 48-20 lead.

“Bohannan’s threes kind of got us jump-started and then we were able to move on from that,” Stafford said. “That was one of his better games.”

The Eagles are off to a great start despite no starter taller than the 6-1 tandem of Eaton and Gosvener, two guards.

“We handle the ball pretty well and we pass the ball pretty good,” Stafford said. “We’ve got four good perimeter players and (Kenton) Yarbrough’s done a real good job for us as an inside player for his size. He’s giving away three or four inches every night. But he’s done a real good job for us.”

GIRLS

HUNTSVILLE 55, LINCOLN 33

The Lady Eagles started slow, but used a 13-3 run to close out the first quarter to roll to a big win.

Gentry Gosvener led Huntsville ( 8- 6, 3-1 4A-1) with 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Delanie Tipton added 11 and McKayla Watkins 10.

Madison Jones led Lincoln ( 3-9, 0-4) with 10 points, including three 3-pointers.