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I never heard anything impressive on his site at all....read more...

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I work at the HSUS, and I’ve also worked at several animal shelters. Shelters do great work – ad...read more...

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Lincoln’s No. 4 Lady Patriots rolled to their 14th straight win Friday by easily defeating 45th District rival Danville 62-36 at LCHS.

The Lady Patriots exploded to a 17-4 start in the first quarter of the Senior Night game and never looked back. The 26-point victory capped off a 6-0 run through the 45th District regular season schedule and improved Lincoln’s overall record to 19-4.

“It was a little emotional in the locker room before we went out because it was Senior Night, but they went out and played well,” said Lincoln coach Don Story. “It was a good game for us. I was proud of the girls’ effort and how they kept their emotions in check during the game.”

Three of Lincoln’s four starting seniors hit double figures in the district win, with Nikki Bustle leading the way with 15 points. Jessica Upchurch contributed 13 points in the victory and 6-3 center Kendra Brown got a rare triple-double, scoring 12 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and blocking 11 shots.

Bustle, a guard, wasted little time in getting her points in the scorebook, tossing in three 3-point goals in a 13-point first-quarter effort. Upchurch, also a guard, added her own triple and a field goal in the first as Lincoln opened up a 17-4 edge over the Lady Admirals.

“Nikki got off to a great quick start, making 13 points the first quarter and Jess got a good start,” said Story. “We wanted to get the game off to a good start and we did.”

The Lady Patriots, who finished 19-for-41 from the field overall for 46 percent, were 7-for-17 in the opening frame, including three treys.

Lincoln may have been runnin’ and gunnin’ early but Danville was shooting blanks.

Kasey Young drained a 3-pointer for Danville at the 5:34 mark of the first, but the Lady Admirals fell silent the rest of the period to finish 1-for-9.

Danville’s offense never warmed up to the game. The Lady Admirals were in the deep freeze through the first three periods, connecting for just five field goals and finishing at an icy 14 percent, going 9-for-66 overall.

“We held them to 18 points through three quarters and I thought that was pretty good,” Story said. “They got 18 the last (quarter), but they got most of those on foul shots.”

Young, who has been putting up some big numbers for the Lady Admirals this season, was held to 10 points Friday.

“I felt like for most of the night we covered her,” said Story. “One time we lost her. We were in a defense, kind of a scramble defense full-court, and nobody was really locked in on her. She can definitely shoot and we knew that. Shelby (Smith - senior) did an outstanding job on her all night. She didn’t get many looks.”

One field goal was all Danville got in the second quarter, as well. Hannah Mountjoy tallied the inside shot with less than three minutes to go in the half. The Lady Admirals (13-12, 1-5 district) were 2-for-22 from the field at the break.

Danville did convert on five of 10 trips to the foul line in the second quarter to get the Lady Ads to double digits before the break.

Lincoln led 25-9 after the Mountjoy bucket, but Emily Fox scored on a driving layup and Brown converted in the paint to give Lincoln a 29-11 cushion at the half.

At the half, Brown had six of her 12 points and had pulled down eight boards with three blocked shots.

“She had a great Senior Night,” Story said. “We’re always looking for her to get the double-double, but to get a triple-double in her final regular-season home game ... it was great.”

Essence Grey, who led all scorers with 17 points, opened the second half with a Danville field goal. Unfortunately, for the Lady Admirals, Smith followed the Grey basket with a 3-pointer to set Lincoln off on a 15-5 run to extend the Lady Pat lead to 44-18 going into the fourth quarter.

Danville did pick up three field goals in the third, with Grey good for two baskets and Young hitting from 3-point land.

The Lady Admirals had their high-point effort in the fourth quarter. Grey scored 12 of her 17 points in the final frame thanks to two field goals and an 8-for-12 stint at the charity stripe.

“We knew Danville was going to play hard. They always do. They never give up,” said Story. “And they tried to extend the game there late and did a good job of that by getting to the foul line a lot.”

“They’ve got a good young team and they’re hard to guard at times,” he said. “The Grey girl, Essence, she really battles. She threw up a lot of shots tonight to try and get Danville going.”

Free throws were the source of most of the scoring in the fourth quarter Friday, with a total of 38 fouls shots taken. Lincoln went 14-for-22 in the period and Danville was 10-for-16.

While pleased with the 26-point victory and the 14th consecutive win, it was a littler number that had Story boasting post-game.

“We’re 6-0. First seed. We’ll take that,” he said with a smile. “That’s what matters most. That’s what we’ve wanted from the start. I’m glad that parts over. Now we get to focus on the district tournament.”

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