Branton Payne
HAGERSTOWN, Ind. – Turnovers and defense.
Those things were a big part of Tuesday’s result as the Hagerstown boys basketball team defeated Lincoln 60-47 in Tri-Eastern Conference action.
“Number one on the board tonight was pressure defense,” Hagerstown Head Coach Bobby Jones said. “I thought we did a real good job of that, especially in the first half.”
On the Lincoln side, it was the turnovers.
“Too many turnovers,” Lincoln Head Coach Rodney Klein said. “24 turnovers for 14 points and 24 offensive rebounds for 13 points.”
“That’s 27 points and we lose by 13,” Klein continued. “It’s going to be a hard time to beat somebody on their own floor as powerful as they are doing those kind of numbers.”
The Tigers have won four in a row and six of their last seven contests.
“We’re putting the pieces together, Jones said. ‘Our guys are showing that they are learning. We’ve just got to learn to play smarter, especially late in the game.”
Hagerstown led 16-9 after the first quarter and then 34-22 by halftime. The Tigers were on top 46-36 heading into the final period.
“Jalen Oliver is a difference maker,” Klein said. “He was hard to got and he hit some open shots.”
Branton Payne led the Tigers with 18 points, while Oliver added 16.
Brady McMillan tossed in seven points.
For the Golden Eagles, Garrett Pumphrey had 17 points, nine rebounds and eight blocks.
“Our physicality inside with Pumphrey was really good,” Jones said. “(Drew) Pyle and Silas Parsons both did a good job of being physical and we planted Jalen (Oliver) right in the middle of the lane.”
Caleb Craig contributed 13 points and Cameron Gwin had seven.
Another factor at the end the of contest was that Hagerstown was 15-of-19 from the free throw line and the Tigers closed out the game by canning 12-of-14 in the final quarter.
“It’s a plus that we are shooting the ball from the free throw line,” Jones said.
Lincoln (8-11, 2-4) entertains Winchester (5-12, 3-3) on Friday night.
The Tigers (12-5, 5-1) face Lapel (11-8) at home on Saturday.