Becca Neville
CAMBRIDGE CITY, Ind. – When it came down to crunch time, Becca Neville was there.
“She struggled for three quarters,” Winchester Head Girls Basketball Coach Holly Hollinger-Gutierrez said. “She really didn’t play her game like she normally does.”
Neville scored 10 of her 15 points in the final period to lead Winchester to 67-64 win over Lincoln in Tri-Eastern Conference action on Saturday.
“Those free throws were huge,” Hollinger-Gutierrez said of Neville’s six charity tosses in the fourth quarter. “It was great senior leadership.”
The Golden Eagles had the momentum after finishing the third period with five straight points to lead 49-44.
“We can score and we can score in bunches at times, but we can’t defend and we can’t get stops when we need it,” Lincoln Head Coach Rob Bills said. “It’s got to be a team effort. We’ve just got to get better defensively.”
With the Falcons down by five entering the fourth quarter, Neville and her teammates started the road back.
Autumn Dixon hit a pair of free throws and Hannah Graft added a free throw and a basket that tied the game at 49-49 with 6:14 left to play.
Neville followed with six points in a Winchester 8-0 run as the Falcons grabbed a 57-50 advantage with 4:58 remaining.
“We’ve been in that situation several times this year,” Bills said of his team falling behind.
A 3-pointer by Laynie Russell and another score by Allie Owens made it 57-55 with 4:24 left.
“We’ve got kids who can score,” Bills said. “But we rush through a possession and then we turn it over. All of that is maturity.”
Mariah Roberts
From that point, Winchester made enough free throws to hold off the Golden Eagles, who did close the gap to 65-64 when Kylei Klein hit one-of-two free throws with 21 seconds left.
Mariah Roberts led Winchester with 26 points, while Neville finished with 13 rebounds.
“Our rebounding has not been very good,” Hollinger-Gutierrez said of Lincoln’s 40-37 edge in that category. “We’re taking little things and that we need to work on them and getting better. That’s helping us overall because this is a game where we were the underdog, so I’m proud of the kids.”
The Golden Eagles had three players in double figures with Kerrigan Neff topping the list with 17 points, while grabbing 13 rebounds.
Kerrigan Neff
Emmie Pugh added 11 points and Klein ended with 10 points to go with 13 rebounds.
The Falcons won the JV tilt 56-30 with Shelby Miller leading the way with 13 points. Kira Robinson added 10 points. Rachel Merida led Lincoln with eight points.
Winchester (4-5, 1-2) entertains TEC rival Union City on Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Lincoln (4-5, 1-2) travels to Randolph Southern on Wednesday, Dec. 16.
Box Score
WINCHESTER (7-6, 2-2) – Sierrah Love 2 3-7 8, Kelly Graft 0 0-0 0, Mariah Roberts 10 2-6 26, Liz Pegg 2 0-0 4, Becca Neville 4 7-12 15, Sarah Mallory 1 1-2 3, Shelby Miller 1 4-4 6, Autumn Dixon 0 2-2 2, Hannah Graft 1 1-3 3. Team – 21 20-36 67.
LINCOLN (4-5, 1-2) – Allie Owens 3 1-2 9, Emmie Pugh 5 0-0 11, Kerrigan Neff 8 0-2 17, Kylei Klein 3 4-8 10, Olivia Davis 4 0-2 8, Laynie Russell 2 1-3 7, Hannah Hall 1 0-0 2, Rachel Merida 0 0-0 0, Jessica Harmer 0 0-0 0. Team – 26 6-17 64.
Lincoln 9 32 49 64 3-pointers – Winchester 5 (Roberts 4, Love 1), Lincoln 6 (Owens 2, Russell 2, Pugh 1, Neff 1). Rebounds – Winchester 37 (Neville 13), Lincoln 40 (Neff 13, Klein 13). Turnovers – Winchester 25, Lincoln 33. Fouls – Winchester 21, Lincoln 27.