Kerrigan Neff
CAMBRIDGE CITY, Ind. – A 13-point run made the difference on Tuesday night as the Lincoln girls basketball team went on to post a 55-47 victory over Union County in a Tri-Eastern Conference match-up.
“This was a big game for us,” Lincoln Head Coach Rob Bills said. “It’s somebody we might see in the sectional. It’s a conference rival. They’re at the top of the conference. We just came out and my kids gave a great effort on senior night for (Dakota Harrison).”
The Golden Eagles led 18-15 after Union County’s Tanner Henry hit a 3-pointer at the 5:36 mark of the second period. Lincoln responded with 13 straight points with six of the then coming on treys from Kerrigan Neff, who had a game-high 27 points.
“What a lot of gutsy shots she took and buried,” Bills said. “She made two threes back-to-back and she knocked down big shots in the fourth quarter too.”
As a result, the Golden Eagles held a 33-17 advantage at halftime.
Maddie Fulton
For the Patriots, with all of their starters with two fouls in the first half, there was a change in plans.
“We zoned much more than we wanted to,” Union County Head Coach Scott Gray said. “When you have to play zone because of foul trouble, and that allows them to just kind of move the ball where they want to without any real ball pressure, they can do that. I watched North Decatur play that way against them. They just lit North Decatur up. Same thing tonight.
“You saw in the second half, when we came out and just said we’re going to make a run and man, it was a different game,” Gray added.
Union County gut into the lead as Lincoln led 40-29 after three frames.
In the fourth quarter, a 3-pointer by Union County’s Tara Williams made 51-45 with 51 seconds left, but that was as close as the Patriots could get.
Kylei Klein
Kylei Klein finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds for Lincoln.
Maddie Fulton led Union County with 23 points and nine rebounds. Henry added 10 points.
Lincoln won the JV contest 32-22. Ryanne Davis led the Golden Eagles with 11 points. Samantha Ramey topped the Patriots with eight.
Both teams finish the regular season on Friday night with TEC contests.
Lincoln (11-10, 2-4) is at Northeastern, while Union County (13-8, 4-2) entertains Centerville.
Box Score
UNION COUNTY (13-8, 4-2) – Sierra Dowler 0 3-6 3, Tanner Henry 3 2-3 10, Maddie Fulton 6 9-10 23, Madison Walters 0 1-2 1, Sammie Elleman 2 0-0 4, Danielle Franklin 0 0-2 0, Tara Williams 2 1-2 6, Samantha Ramey 0 0-0 0, Sydney McClure 0 0-0 0, Fayth Hill 0 0-0 0. Team – 13 16-25 47.
LINCOLN (11-10, 2-4) – Allie Owens 1 2-4 5, Kerrigan Neff 9 6-8 27, Dakota Harrison 0 1-2 1, Kylei Klein 3 5-9 12, Olivia Davis 1 0-0 2, Hannah Hall 0 1-2 1, Emmie Pugh 2 0-0 4, Laynie Russell 1 0-0 3. Team – 17 15-25 55.
Union County 9 17 29 47
Lincoln 16 33 40 55
3-pointers – Union County 5 (Henry 2, Fulton 2, Williams 1), Lincoln 6 (Neff 3, Owens 1, Russell 1, Klein 1). Rebounds – Union County 28 (Fulton 9), Lincoln 48 (Klein 14, Owens 7, Neff 7, Russell 7). Turnovers – Union County 8, Lincoln 22. Fouls – Union County 24, Lincoln 18.