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STANFORD — Lincoln County’s seniors took their last, best shot at getting to the Girls Sweet Sixteen. And they just missed.

A senior-dominated that had been knocking on the door of the state tournament for years was denied once more Saturday night, as Rockcastle County turned them away with a 48-40 victory in the girls 12th Region Tournament championship at Lincoln.

The host Patriots were outscored 15-3 over the final 31⁄2 minutes as Rockcastle surged to the front for a final time in a closely contested battle between the two best teams in the region.

Lincoln had pointed toward this team, led by five seniors who had been playing together since they were small children, as its best chance to win the school’s first regional title since 2001.

“We felt like we had a great chance to go,” Lincoln coach Don Story said. “When you dream about it for so long and then it doesn’t happen, it’s a tremendous letdown for everybody.”

The Lincoln seniors broke into sobs when the final buzzer sounded and cried throughout the trophy presentations. Story first tried to console them, then stood silently at the end of the bench, occasionally shaking his head.

It was also the final game for Story, who plans to resign after five seasons as Lincoln’s coach.

“I’ll miss it, and I’ll miss this group of seniors, but I’m ready to move on,” said Story, who leaves with a 110-40 record.

Four players scored in double figures for Rockcastle (27-4), led by Sara Hammond with 13 points. But it was guard Angie Lawrence who delivered in the clutch, scoring nine of her 11 points during the decisive run and hitting six of six free throws in the final 22 seconds.

Lincoln (24-5) led 35-29 lead with 6:20 to play while it shut out Rockcastle for 3:47 in one of a number of scoring droughts caused by the two teams’ defenses. It was still 37-33 when Lincoln’s Nikki Bustle scored with 4:56 to play, but the Patriots made only one of eight shots in the final four minutes.

“They made a few shots, and we missed a few. It wasn’t really that much of a change,” Story said.

Lincoln went ahead one last time on Jessica Upchurch’s layup with 2:26 to go. The last of 10 lead changes came on Rockcastle’s next trip when Michaela Hunter buried a 3-pointer at the 2:00 mark to make it 41-39.

Rockcastle led 42-40 with 51 seconds left when they began to kill the clock. The Patriots were forced to foul, and Lawrence finished them off at the free throw line, where Rockcastle was 14 for 18.

Rockcastle coach Chrysti Noble said she wasn’t sure what sparked Rockcastle’s rally.

“Determination, I guess,” Noble said. “They wanted to win.”

Rockcastle will play the 1st Region champion on Thursday in the Girls Sweet Sixteen after winning its sixth regional title, including its third in five years in the 12th Region. All three of its wins in the 12th have come at Lincoln, two of them after beating the home team in the championship.

“We like it here,” Noble said.

Kendra Brown led Lincoln with 11 points and seven blocked shots, while Upchurch and Emily Fox scored eight points each.

Rockcastle led 14-10 at halftime despite scoring only once in a six-minute span in the second quarter. Lincoln was just 2 for 11 from the field in the second quarter, including 0 for 4 from 3-point range, where it was 4 for 14 overall. The Patriots shot 35.6 percent (16 for 45) overall, while Rockcastle shot 36.3 percent (16 for 44).

The Rockets went 2 for 8 with five turnovers in the third quarter while Lincoln, which was 7 for 13, went up 26-22 with a 12-2 run that included four points each by Fox and Brown.

A left-handed layup by Fox late in the period put the Patriots back on top 30-29 with 1:32 left in the quarter and kicked off a 7-0 run.

Story said even though Lincoln’s seniors couldn’t win their final game, that shouldn’t tarnish their legacy.

“I’m extremely proud of them,” he said. “They’ve accomplished a lot.”

12th Region Tournament

At Lincoln County

Championship

Rockcastle County	12	20	29	48
Lincoln County	10	14	32	40

ROCKCASTLE (27-4) — Sara Hammond 13, Jackie Alexander 11, Kristin Abney 2, Angie Lawrence 11, Michaela Hunter 11.

LINCOLN (24-5) — Kendra Brown 11, Jessica Upchurch 8, Emily Fox 8, Nikki Bustle 6, Sydney Harris 2, Alissa Patterson 5.

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