Gabby Willis
Savannah Houck
CAMBRIDGE CITY, Ind. – The Hagerstown girls basketball team needed a victory on Thursday night if the Tigers were going to stay in the hunt for the Tri-Eastern Conference title.
With a 49-34 win over Lincoln, Hagerstown (13-7, 4-1) moved closer to a showdown with TEC leader Union City (14-3, 6-0).
“We’ve talked about it since last Saturday night,” Hagerstown Head Coach Chris Oliger said. “We control our own destiny.”
Next up for the Tigers is a visit TEC foe Northeastern on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
After a non-conference home game with Muncie Burris on Saturday, Jan. 23, the Tigers finish the regular season with Union City coming to Hagerstown on Friday, Jan. 29.
“We have a chance for a share the title and we have to win two more TEC games,” Oliger said of his team’s opportunity for a third crown in a row.
On Thursday, Beth Jenkins supplied the first big moment for the Tigers with two straight baskets in the second quarter.
“That may have turned the tide in our favor,” Oliger said. “That was huge for us.”
Kylei Klein
Kerrigan Neff
Kerrigan Neff had just scored for the Golden Eagles with 3:11 left in the first half to cut Hagerstown’s advantage to 18-15.
Jenkins scored at the 2:44 mark. Moments later, she stole the inbound pass and made another basket to give the Tigers a 22-15 lead.
Hagerstown ended the frame with with a pair of free throws from Savannah Houck and a score from Hailee Garrison to make it 26-15 at the intermission.
In the third period, Lincoln closed the gap to three points twice with the last time coming with nine seconds left as Kylei Klein scored to make it 32-29.
“It seemed like we could never get past that three-point hump,” Lincoln Head Coach Rob Bills said.
That hump got larger as the buzzer sounded at the end of the third when Hagerstown’s Gabby Willis drilled an uncontested 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 35-29 lead.
“They cut it to three and they made their run,” Oliger said. “Every good team does.”
Hagerstown increased its lead to double digits in the final stanza on the way to the win.
“We went out and stretched the lead back out and hit our free throws down the stretch,” Oliger said. “A great win for us.”
Despite the loss, Bills was optimistic about his squad that is now 7-10 overall and 1-4 in the conference.
“I’m really happy with the effort and I’m really happy with the game plan,” he said.
Bills also saw improvement since a 61-44 loss to the Tigers in the Wayne County Tournament championship contest last weekend.
“I thought the one thing we were better at, we were much better inside tonight than we were last Saturday,” Bills said. “They just abused us inside.”
Neff led Lincoln with 11 points, while Klein added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
As much as the inside game helped, the free throw line proved to be a problem for the Golden Eagles.
“3-for-11 is not us,” Bills said.
Houck, who scored all of her points in the first half, finished with 14. Willis had all of her 12 points in the second half.
The Tigers also won the JV contest 35-10. Caysey Farmer led the Tigers with 10 points, while Ryanne Davis tossed in eight points for the Golden Eagles.
Lincoln entertains National Trail on Saturday afternoon in a contest that was postponed from earlier this week.
Box Score
HAGERSTOWN (13-7, 4-1) – Gabby Willis 4 3-5 12, Hannah Rogers 1 2-2 4, Taylor Kelley 2 2-6 6, Brytni Dale 2 0-0 4, Savannah Houck 4 2-4 14, Beth Jenkins 2 0-0 4, Victoria Pierson 0 0-0 0, Hailee Garrison 2 0-0 5. Team – 17 9-17 49.
LINCOLN (7-10, 1-4) – Allie Owens 1 0-0 2, Emmie Pugh 2 0-0 6, Kerrigan Neff 5 1-8 11, Kylei Klein 4 2-2 10, Olivia Davis 1 0-0 2, Laynie Russell 1 0-1 3, Hannah Hall 0 0-0 0, Dakota Harrison 0 0-0 0, Jessica Harmer 0 0-0 0, Rachel Merida 0 0-0 0. Team – 14 3-11 34.
Hagerstown 14 26 35 49
Lincoln 8 15 29 34
3-pointers – Hagerstown 6 (Houck 4, Willis 1, Garrison 1), Lincoln 3 (Pugh 2, Russell 1). Rebounds – Hagerstown 35 (Houck 7), Lincoln 24 (Klein 7). Turnovers – Hagerstown 9, Lincoln 9. Fouls – Hagerstown 13, Lincoln 14.