Emmie Pugh
LIBERTY, Ind. – A third quarter run proved to be the difference on Friday night as the Lincoln girls basketball team advanced to the finals of the Class 2A sectional at Union County by beating the host Patriots 52-45.
Emmie Pugh led the charge as the Golden Eagles (13-10) during what turned out to be the defining moments of the contest.
“That was a big stretch,” Lincoln Head Coach Rob Bills said. “She did it different ways. She did it out of the offense and got a steal right off a press. She made a play and she’s capable of doing that.”
Union County had just taken 23-21 lead after Sammie Elleman scored her second straight basket at 6:11 of the third period when the rally began for Lincoln on a 3-pointer by Pugh.
“I was nervous to start the game,” Pugh said. “When I hit the first one, I was super excited.”
The trey would put Lincoln on top for good with a 24-23 advantage at the 5:57 mark.
“Coach Bills said to take open shots,”Pugh said. “So I started to do that.”
Pugh followed with to more baskets for Lincoln and the lead was 28-23 with 4:59 left to play.
“Emmie Pugh had an unbelievable game,” Union County Head Coach Scott Gray said. “She set the tone.”
Pugh led Lincoln with 17 points, which is 11 over her season average (5.9).
“Emmie can knock down shots,” Bills said. “I wasn’t surprised by that.”
Lincoln eventually led 36-25 at the end of the third period. Union County battled back and closed the gap to five points with 20 seconds remaining when Sierra Dowler drilled a 3-pointer.
“It got 50-45 and you think you’re OK, but I’ll tell you what, I’ve been down here, we had the Gulleys knock two down in a game (for Union County) and rip our hearts out,” Bills said. “We’ve just got to maybe get a little bit better at the end, but I want to say hats off to the Union County seniors. They are class people. They play really hard and they’re going to be missed in this program.”
Maddie Fulton
Maddie Fulton led the Patriots with 22 points, while Elleman added a dozen. The other seniors for Union County (15-9) are Tanner Henry (seven points), Madison Walters (eight rebounds) and Danielle Franklin.
“I’m extremely proud of my seniors,” Gray said. “It’s been a great couple seasons for them.”
“I thought it came down to Cambridge City played like they wanted to win,” he continued. “I thought we played not to lose. We were a little apprehensive with the things we were doing. They just played with a little bit of a reckless abandon and that works for them. They have weapons all over the floor.”
Kerrigan Neff tossed in 16 points for Lincoln with all but one basket coming in the second half. Allie Owens finished with 10 points.
“They played great defense,” Bills said of his team. “We played the way we wanted, we got what we wanted.”
“We talked a lot tonight.” he added. “I thought that was huge for us, the way we talked to each other and helped each other through some things. It was just a good team win. They all played well.”
The Golden Eagles have won six in a row and nine of their last 11 games.
“The North Decatur game was a big key for us,” Bills said. “We went on a seven-game losing streak in December, and people were doubting us. We just ran into a tough group of people and the North Decatur game was the game I think they all believed and bought into what we were telling them the whole time.”
The Golden Eagles hope to cash in from that purchase on Saturday as they look for the fourth sectional title in school history against Winchester (12-11), which defeated Centerville 67-55 in Friday’s second contest to advance.
Winchester won the regular season contest between the two teams 67-64 in Cambridge City on Dec. 12.
Box Score
LINCOLN (13-10) – Allie Owens 4 0-0 10, Emmie Pugh 8 0-0 17, Kerrigan Neff 5 6-8 16, Kylei Klein 0 1-3 1, Olivia Davis 0 0-1 0, Laynie Russell 2 0-0 5, Hannah Hall 1 0-0 3, Dakota Harrison 0 0-0 0. Team – 19 8-14 52.
UNION COUNTY (15-9) – Sierra Dowler 1 1-2 4, Tanner Henry 2 3-4 7, Maddie Fulton 8 4-8 22, Madison Walters 0 0-0 0, Sammie Elleman 6 0-2 12, Danielle Franklin 0 0-0 0, Fayth Hill 0 0-0 0. Team – 17 8-16 45.
Lincoln 12 21 36 52
Union County 9 19 25 45
3-pointers – Lincoln 5 (Owens 2, Hall 1, Pugh 1, Russell 1), Union County 3 (Fulton 2, Dowler 1). Rebounds – Lincoln 29 (Klein 8), Union County 33 (Walters 8, Henry 7). Turnovers – Lincoln 18, Union County 21. Fouls – Lincoln 15, Union County 16.
Sectional Championships by TEC Teams
Winchester (14): 1977, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013.
Hagerstown (5): 1993, 1994, 1995, 2009, 2015.
Northeastern (5): 1990, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2011.
Tri (5): 1998, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014.
Union City (5): 1985, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003.
Lincoln (3): 1983, 2004, 2005.
Centerville (1): 2012.
Union County (1): 2006.