Tyler Smith
HAGERSTOWN, Ind. – A quick run at the end of the first quarter on Thursday was just what Northeastern needed as the Class 2A No. 3 Knights defeated Lincoln 72-40 in the opener of the Wayne County Tournament.
Northeastern (8-1) advances to play the winner of Friday’s Centerville-Hagerstown affair on Saturday night.
“All in all, they did what they had to do,” Northeastern Head Coach Brent Ross said. “(Lincoln Head Coach) Rodney (Klein) was going to have his team ready to play and they were.”
The Knights led 8-7 after Chase Southerland hit a 3-pointer for the Golden Eagles 2:24 left in the opening period.
Northeastern responded by scoring 13 straight points to end the quarter with a 21-7 advantage.
Nine of the points came from Tyler Smith, who scored a game-high 28 points for the Knights.
“Tyler does what Tyler does,” Ross said. “He kind of took the game over there and put a little separation that helped us kind of hold on.”
“That is the kind of run we like,” Ross added. “That hasn’t happened as often as we would like. We run so many different defenses that it’s not easy.”
For Klein and the Golden Eagles the contest came down to mistakes.
“It was all because of our turnovers,” Klein said. “The bottom line, tonight comes down to turnovers.”
“You cannot beat a team like Northeastern in a full-court game where you turn the ball over,” Klein continued. “They only scored four times in our half-court defense. Everything was on the transition off of our turnovers.”
Garrett Pumphrey
Lincoln finished with 23 turnovers overall with 10 coming in the first frame.
“We just didn’t take care of the basketball like I thought we would,” Klein said. “It gives us an opportunity now and we’ll settle back and we’ll look at this. We play them in three weeks again and hopefully we’ll be better at it.”
After gaining control in the first, the Knights were on top 37-18 by halftime 55-30 at the end of the third.
In addition to Tyler Smith, Northeastern had two others in double figures with Bailey Stewart adding 16 points. Robert Smith finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Garrett Pumphrey had 13 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks for the Golden Eagles, who also got 11 points from Southerland.
Lincoln (5-5) is at Tri for a Tri-Eastern Conference contest on Friday, Jan. 15.
Box Score
NORTHEASTERN (8-1) – Tyler Smith 12 3-7 28, Bailey Stewart 6 3-7 17, Robert Smith 5 1-1 11, Nate Reynolds 2 0-0 5, Harrison Rice 1 0-0 2, Kaleb Mikesell 1 1-2 3, DaShawn Hampton 1 0-0 2, Austin Clay 0 0-0 0, Alec Sheets 1 0-0 2, Jalen Hillard 1 0-0 2, Gabe Beatty 0 0-0 0. Team – 30 8-17 72.
LINCOLN (5-5) – Ben Bertsch 0 0-0 0, Caleb Craig 2 0-0 5, Chase Southerland 5 0-0 11, Hunter Ferris 2 0-2 4, Garrett Pumphrey 5 3-4 13, Nick Cupp 2 0-1 4, Bryant Hilbert 0 0-0 0, Peyton Renforth 1 1-1 3, Justin Black 0 0-0 0, Austin Lanich 0 0-0 0, Garron Laymon 0 0-0 0, Luke Isaacs 0 0-0 0. Team – 17 4-8 40.
Northeastern 21 37 55 72
Lincoln 7 18 30 40
3-pointers – Northeastern 3 (T.Smith 1, Stewart 1, Reynolds 1), Lincoln 2 (Craig 1, Southerland 1). Rebounds – Northeastern 45 (R.Smith 13), Lincoln 41 (Pumphrey 13). Turnovers – Northeastern 9, Lincoln 23. Fouls – Northeastern 17, Lincoln 13.