CAMBRIDGE CITY, Ind. – The Lincoln girls basketball team defeated Centerville 53-23 on Tuesday in Tri-Eastern Conference girls basketball action.
“Their kids came out ready to play and they took it to us,” Lincoln coach Rob Bills said. “We had to make some adjustments at halftime and Kylei (Klein) was in foul trouble.”
The Golden Eagles led 19-16 at the intermission before scoring 25 points to build a 44-22 advantage by the end of the third period. Kerrigan Neff scored 15 of her game-high 24 points to help the Golden Eagles.
“Kerrigan just did a great job,” Bills said. “The second half was definitely a lot better effort. We thought we could push the tempo and kind of wear them down. We got a lot of good play off our bench.”
Neff had just six points after two periods.
“We went to the locker room and talked about it,” Neff said of how her team was playing. “The second half I did shoot better.”
Another pivotal moment in the third period was when Centerville’s Savana Kates went down with a knee injury with 3:50 left.
“That hurt them,” Bills said.
At that points Kates had six points and seven rebounds.
“I thought we got some good looks in the third quarter,” Centerville coach Jason Searcy said. “Nothing was going in.”
Except from Neff, who had seven straight baskets.
“During that stretch, we lost our responsibilities mentally,” Searcy said.
In addition to her scoring, Neff led Lincoln with 10 rebounds. Allie Owens added seven points and Olivia Davis grabbed seven rebounds.
Kailee Tedder led Centerville with nine points.
Lincoln won the JV contest 25-24 as Kami Laymon led the Golden Eagles with nine points. Centerville was led by Carlie Doolin.
Centerville (2-4, 0-1) visits Lapel on Saturday. Lincoln (4-1, 1-0) entertains Tri High in a TEC game next Tuesday
Box Score
CENTERVILLE (2-4, 0-1) – Morgan Guenther 0 1-2 1, Ella Chew 0 0-0 0, Savana Kates 3 0-3 6, Alex McFarland 2 0-0 5, Cassidy Weiss 1 0-2 2, Carlie Doolin 0 0-0 0, Kailee Tedder 2 3-4 9, Alexis Harmon 0 0-0 0, Molly Coomes 0 0-0 0. Team – 8 4-11 23.
LINCOLN (4-1, 1-0) – Allie Owens 3 0-0 7, Laynie Russell 2 0-0 4, Emmie Pugh 2 0-0 4, Kerrigan Neff 11 2-3 24, Kylei Klein 1 0-0 2, Lauren Weston 2 0-0 5, Olivia Davis 2 0-0 4, Hannah Hall 1 0-0 3, Rachel Merida 0 0-0 0, Brianna Sparks 0 0-0 0, Kami Laymon 0 0-0 0, Ryanne Davis 0 0-0 0, Jessica Harmer 0 0-0 0. Team – 24 2-3 53.
Centerville 4 16 22 23
Lincoln 13 19 44 53
3-pointers – Centerville 3 (Tedder 2, McFarland 1), Lincoln 3 (Owens 1, Weston 1, Hall 1). Rebounds – Centerville 27 (Kates 7, McFarland 6), Lincoln 42 (Neff 10, Davis 7). Turnovers – Centerville 29, Lincoln 15. Fouls – Centerville 10, Lincoln 12. Fouled out – Klein. JV game – Lincoln 25, Centerville 24.