STANFORD — It may look like a down year on paper for Garrard County, with just four wins in 17 games, but on the hardwood the Golden Lions are fighters.
They proved that Tuesday night at Lincoln County. It didn’t take an overtime period or two or three to decide a winner in the 45th District clash, but it proved to be another hardwood thriller as the Patriots outlasted the Golden Lions 57-50.
“We defended our house. We’re now 3-0 in the district,” Lincoln coach Jeff Jackson said. “Defending our house was something we wanted to do, needed to do, because next three are on the road. No matter what the records are, there are no easy games in our district.”
Lincoln led by as many as 10 points Tuesday, but for most of the game it was a difference of just two to four points with the lead changing hands nine times.
“We called this a grinder game,” said Jackson. “We made enough plays when we needed to to win the game. We told our kids right from the start that it was going to be a battle and it was.”
Garrard coach Ryan Young, a former Patriot standout and the brother of Lincoln’s Noah Young, said he was proud of his team’s effort.
“They fought hard tonight and I was super proud,” he said. “Not a lot of people, honestly, probably gave us a chance to stay in the game and I understand that. We’re struggling. We’re super young this year. Our program hasn’t gotten over the hump of figuring out what we need to do to win. I was very proud. The kids executed the game plan that we put in place for them. You hold the team that’s the second leading 3-point shooting team in the state and one of top field goal (percentage) and for my money, and not because he’s my brother, I’d take (Noah) over any point guard in the state for what he does for that team.”
Garrard (3-15, 0-3 district) led 11-10 after one and had Lincoln down 18-13 with just 2:38 left in the second quarter when the Patriots broke on the game’s biggest run, 8-0. Noah Young, who had a game-high 26 points and five assists, opened the run with a free throw toss then added a bucket, Chase Phillips went inside for a bucket and Devin Alcorn nailed a 3-pointer to end the run with Lincoln on top, 21-18.
Young hit again with two tics on the clock to make it 23-19 Lincoln at the half.
The Patriots extended their lead to 27-21 early in the third quarter after Phillips and Young hit in the paint. However, the Golden Lions quickly erased the lead, using a 13-6 run to retake the lead. Justin Preston scored all of his six points in the run, Carter Moss bombed in a 3-pointer, Parker Dailey, who finished with 12 points for the Lions, got a bucket and Trevor Jones, who led the team with 15 points, sank two free throws to nose Garrard ahead 34-33.
It would be the Golden Lions’ last lead.
Phillips hit one free throw in the closing seconds of the third quarter and Young sank two more to put Lincoln on top to stay, 37-34.
Ten points was Lincoln’s largest lead of the night, Phillips sank two free throws with 1:38 to play in the fourth to make it 51-41.
Jones tallied eight of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, including a late three-point play and a free throw toss with 9.9 seconds to play to get Garrard as close as 55-50.
“I’m super proud of our kids we just didn’t reward ourselves tonight. We missed 13 free throws. That’s it,” Coach Young said. “We’re fighting that mentality that we’re supposed to lose to Lincoln County. That we’re supposed to lose to Boyle County, and to Danville. Nobody else determines that except us in our preparation. Hopefully we can build on this. I hurt for them right now. They played hard. I think they played hard for me. They wanted to play hard for their coach because of the situation (Young vs. Young).”
Jackson had plenty of praise for Garrard.
“We’ve seen them play so many times and they’ve gotten better every time. Ryan’s got a heck of a staff and they’ve improved every game. Their kids play awfully hard. It was a heck of a win for our kids,” he said.
Jackson also commended the two Youngs on the court, the coach and the player.
“They’re both very competitive,” he said of Ryan and Noah. “They’re both great players and both like to win. And they will work hard for it. They work hard to make sure they are competitive and that they are their best.”
Lincoln shot 44 percent from the field overall, going 20-for-45, 2-for-10 from 3-point range. At the line, Lincoln was 15-for-24.
Garrard was at 46 percent overall, 16-for-35, 3-for-10 from 3. At the line, Garrard was 15-for-27.
Both teams had 27 rebounds.

at Lincoln Co.
1 2 3 4 F
Garrard 11 8 15 16 – 50
Lincoln 10 13 14 20 – 57

GARRARD (9-7, 0-3) – Justin Preston 6, Brandon Pingleton 6, Carter Moss 6, Braden Sebastian 5, Trevor Jones 13, Parker Dailey 14.
LINCOLN (14-6, 3-0) – Devin Alcorn 9, Tanner McAninch 8, Chase Phillips 8, Noah Young 26, Carlos Nunez 2, Nick Noland 2, Riley Bodner 2.