Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Legends Of Lady Wolves Basketball
REMEMBERING 2008-09 GIRLS TEAM
— Lincoln honored its 2008-09 girls basketball team during halftime of the boys basketball game between Lincoln and West Fork on Friday, Feb. 14.
Among those in attendance were: Tonya Villines- Ingram, Abby Smith- Boulter, RaShelle Goldman-Buchannan, and Natasha Clark-Holt.
“They were great kids,” said Lincoln athletic director Deon Birkes, who coached the 2008-2009 team along with assistant coach Tim Rich. “They were a bunch of great basketball players.”
The 2008-2009 Lady Wolves went undefeated at home (9-0), achieving an overall record of 25-5 with a 8-2 conference record tying Elkins for first place in the league, plus won District 3A-1 and Regional championships before getting upset by Centerpoint, 56-49, in the first-round of the 3A State tournament. They scored a total of 1,659 points averaging 55.3 pointsper-game while allowing 1,312 total points for an average of 43.7. Their winning percentage was .833.
The Lady Wolves showcased depth and versatility with Birkes utilizing an 8- player rotation — Smith- Boulter, Shelbi Gault, Clark- Holt, Villines- Ingram, Hanna Perkins, Anna Niece, Tara Paczowski and Goldman-Buchannan. Seven of those players scored in double figures at least once and four girls scored 20 or more points.
Birkes favored playing up-tempo, while acknowledging, some teams wouldn’t run with the Lady Wolves. Lincoln won games by scores of 77-40 over Cave Springs (Bunch, Okla.); and 68-61 over Gentry, but also pulled off a 29-28 victory over Charleston in the Regional final.
“We went 25-5 and I can tell you out of all the times we practiced, we had one kid miss one practice, that was this lady here,” Birkes said
explaining, “All she was trying to do was sign a $100,000 scholarship to Lyon College.”
Birkes said the team maintained a strong sense of self-discipline yet made the most out of enjoying every moment.
“I didn’t have to do much cause they policed themselves, but they had fun. They were laughing all the time,” Birkes said.
He described a yearbook photo that makes the team appear as serious as they could be, but said that was the opposite of the team personality.
“They were never serious.”
A qualifying comparison as how good this team actually was shows in the Lady Wolves’ Feb. 28, 2009, defeat of Charleston to win the Regional championship. Charleston went on to win the 2009 Class 3A state championship.
One unusual incident Birkes recalled was playing the first half of a district tournament game using a boys basketball, which has a larger diameter due to boys having bigger hands.
The girls finally asked, “Coach, are we supposed to be using a boys ball?”
Birkes quickly got the situation rectified and the proper basketball was brought out for second half play.
“We played an entire half using a boys ball and we were behind. We got a girls ball and we won,” Birkes said.
The highlight of the season occurred with Smith-Boulter scoring on the low block in the waning seconds to knock off host, Charleston, 29-28, and win the Class 3A-Region 1 Tournament on Feb. 28, 2009.
The Lady Wolves took a No. 1 seed into the Class 3A State Tournament at Riverview High School in Searcy, a four hour drive from Lincoln, but were upset 56- 49 by Centerpoint after achieving one of the best seasons in school history.