Lincoln County Middle School’s boys basketball program got the 2017-18 season off to a roaring start over the weekend, emerging as the lone team out of seven participating schools to go 9-0 in Saturday’s Mercer County Panorama.

The Lincoln Eagles dominated on the hardwood, averaging wins of 23.7 points per game. All but one win was by double digits, with the seventh-grade’s 54-17 win over Somerset’s Meece Middle the largest margin of victory. The only close call was the Lincoln sixth-grade’s 48-44 overtime win over Meece.

Results from the games follow:

6th Grade

LC 48, Meece 44 (OT)
The Lincoln sixth-grade outscored Meece Middle School 6-2 in overtime to claim a 48-44 victory.
Lincoln edged on top 18-16 in the first quarter only to have Meece go on a 7-2 second-quarter run to show a 23-20 advantage at the break.

The Eagles evened the game at 32-all by the end of the third period, then both teams tallied 10 points in the fourth quarter to force the overtime period.

Blade Nuckols paced Lincoln with 17 points and Sawyer Horton followed with 11 points.

Connor Davis added eight points and Seth Horton and Elan Lane both finished with six points.

LC 52, Clark Moore 23
Eleven Eagles got in the scorebook in the Lincoln sixth-grade team’s 52-23 win over Clark Moore.

Lincoln, which exploded out to a 16-3 start and was never threatened, was led by Connor Davis with 10 points.

Seth Horton finished with nine points, Jackson Withrow had eight, Anthony Kidwell, five, Sawyer Horton, Jacob Moore and R.J. Givens each had four, and Blade Nuckols, Elan Lane, Breydon Hatter and Wesley Crawley had two apiece.

The Eagles led 29-15 at the break and were up 37-19 before closing on a 15-4 fourth-quarter run.

LC 39, Mercer 16
It was another blowout start for the Lincoln sixth-grade in its 39-16 romp over host Mercer County.

Lincoln outpointed Mercer 15-2 in the first quarter and went 9-5 in the second quarter for a 24-7 halftime margin.

The Eagles used a 13-9 third-quarter to build on their lead then shut out Mercer in the final frame.

Blade Nuckols hit double figures in the win with 12 points. Andrew Simmerman scored eight points for the Eagles, Sawyer Horton had five, Jacob Moore, three, Connor Davis, Seth Horton, Elan Lane, Jackson Withrow and Skylar Thompson all had two points and J.C. Bryant had one.

7th Grade

LC 54, Mercer 17
Lincoln’s Tramane Alcorn scored more points individually than Mercer County did as a team, burning the nets for 28 points as the Eagle eighth-grade team trounced its host 54-17.

The Eagles led after every quarterstop, opening with 13-4 runs in both the first and second quarters. The Lincoln lead was 40-16 at the end of three then the Eagle defense held Mercer to just one free throw toss in the fourth quarter.

Jansen McAninch contributed eight points for Lincoln, Layne Lark had six points, Colton Ralston had five, Jalen Smith had three and Zack Moore and Trevor Miracle each had two.

LC 48, Meece 21
Lincoln’s seventh-grade Eagles left little doubt who was in control in their game with Meece Middle, outscoring the Somerset team 34-5 in the first half to set them on course for a 48-21 rout.

Meece would outscore Lincoln 16-14 in the second half, but it was too little, too late.

Zack Moore and Layne Lark both hit double figures for Lincoln, with Moore scoring 16 points and Lark 10. Tramane Alcorn followed with seven points, Trevor Miracle had six, Colton Ralston, five, and Jalen Smith and Bo Wallin, two apiece.

LC 52, Rockcastle 27
The seventh-grade Eagles had their highest scoring quarter of the Panorama in their 52-27 victory over Rockcastle County Middle, swishing in 21 first-quarter points.

Rockcastle managed just two points in the opening frame. Rock’s scoring did improve over the remainder of the game and the team tied Lincoln in scoring in the second (10-10) and fourth (8-8) quarters but it was just too much Lincoln. 

Lincoln had three players in double figures in the win with Tramane Alcorn scoring 13 points, Zack Moore 12 and Layne Lark 10. Colton Ralston scored six points, Bo Wallin had five, Jansen McAninch had four and Jackson Sims had two. 

8th Grade

LC 53, Meece 23
Consistent double-digit scoring carried Lincoln’s eighth-graders to a 53-23 win over Meece Middle School.

Lincoln, which held Meece to single digits in every quarter, jumped in front 11-3 in the first then used a 16-6 scoring run to post a 27-9 halftime advantage. A 15-6 third-quarter run extended Lincoln’s lead to 42-15 going into the fourth quarter and the Eagles closed on an 11-8 run.

Leading Lincoln’s scoring was Lee Amon with nine points. Colin Green and Skyler Quinn both scored eight points, Ryan York added seven points, Cruise Wilson had six, Clayton Davis had five, Zack Young, four, and Lawson Hon and Braxton Cooper, three each.

LC 59, Clark Moore 25
Ditto on the double-digit scoring for the eighth-grade Eagles in their second win of the Mercer Panorama, a 59-25 drubbing of Clark Moore Middle.

Just like in the Meece win, the Eagles opened on an 11-3 scoring run, but they would post a larger halftime lead against Clark Moore, outspointing their opponent 18-2 to take a 29-5 lead.

Clark Moore would score 13 points in the fourth quarter but Lincoln held a 30-20 second-half scoring edge to clinch the decisive win.

Skyler Quinn was Lincoln’s scoring leader in the game with 10 points. Ryan York scored nine points, Clayton Davis and Lee Amon scored eight points apiece, Colin Green and Lawson Hon each had six points and Cruise Wilson, Landon McQueen and Zack Young each had four.

LC 43, Mercer 29
Lee Amon had a hot hand in the eighth-grade Eagles’ closer, whipping in a game-high 27 points as Lincoln blasted host Mercer County 43-29.

Lincoln gradually put away Mercer. The Eagles opened play with an 11-7 edge, showed a three-point advantage in the second quarter to go up 18-11 at the half then outpointed Mercer 25-18 in the second half to secure the win.

Cruise Wilson, Clayton Davis and Colin Green scored four points apiece for Lincoln while Skyler Quinn and Ryan York each had two.