CHS Holiday Classic Pats blow big lead in OT loss
Published 1:08 pm Thursday, January 4, 2018
Photos by Nancy Leedy LINCOLN’S Spencer Baird is on the run after grabbing a defensive rebound in the overtime loss to Bardstown in the CHS Holiday Classic.
CAMPBELLSVILLE — Lincoln County blew a chance to open its last tournament run of 2017 with a win.
Lincoln surrendered a 19-point lead, as Bardstown stormed back for a 65-62 overtime win at Paul J. Coop Gymnasium in the opening round of the Campbellsville High School Holiday Classic on Dec. 28.
Lincoln (4-8) lit up the scoreboards in the first half. The Patriots got points from eight players in the first and second quarters as they shot a torrid 58 percent from the field and went on separate runs of 8-0, 6-1 and 14-8.
Spencer Baird scored 14 of his team-high 21 points in the first half and Elijah Frye, who came off the bench to score 15 points, tallied seven of his points in the first two periods to help Lincoln open up a 37-18 lead with 2 minutes, 49 seconds to go in the first half.
But Bardstown (5-5) went on its own run to end the half, then basically bludgeoned the Patriots in the second half. After shooting just 33 percent the first half, the Tigers burned the nets for 54 percent and outscored the Pats 37-23 after halftime to get the win.
“Our kids played hard. They really, really battled,” Lincoln coach Jeff Jackson said. “But we have Chase Phillips on the bench injured (turned ankle in Somerset game). We have Blake Smith on the bench injured (ankle injury early in Bardstown game). We have two of our top ball handlers on the bench so there goes any help for Jaxon Smith on the floor to take the pressure off him.”
“They (Tigers) are a very good team. They are very athletic and quick. We are young – we had sophomores, freshmen and an eighth-grader out on the floor – but we still have to execute. When the game is down to one possession or one play, we have to make sure we execute and we make stops.”
After being outscored 19-6 in the third quarter to trail 47-45, Lincoln rebounded in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Jayden Traynor, Trey Riney and Montrez Railey scored a bucket apiece to help Bardstown post its largest lead of the game, 55-49, before Lincoln posted a game-tying run. Frye and Baird both converted on three-point plays and Bryson Yaden added a free throw to make it 56-all with 1:44 left in regulation.
Railey, who scored six of his nine points in the fourth, hit inside to edge the Tigers back on top, 58-56, then he picked off an inbounds pass by Lincoln and took it in for a layup for a four-point margin. Frye would convert at the foul line to force the extra period. He sank two free throws and, after Bardstown lost potential game-sealing free throw chances on a lane violation, he was sent back to the foul line where he converted both shots for the 60-60 tie and overtime.
Lincoln could not carry that scoring run into the extra period, getting only two free throws to fall as Bardstown posted the win.
“We had a chance. We just didn’t execute and make stops when we needed to,” Jackson said.
Lincoln center Riley Bodner hit inside to open the game scoring and Blake Smith drove baseline for a 4-2 edge on what would be his final play of the game. The junior guard injured his right ankle and never returned to action. The Patriot lead was 9-8 when Baird rolled off six straight points and Darius Napier capped the first with a layup off a turnover for a 17-8 ballgame.
Baird and Napier both scored in the paint in a 6-2 run to open the second quarter, and Baird added two free throws to push the Lincoln lead to 23-10. The Patriots would outscore the Tigers 14-8 over the next 2 minutes, 35 seconds, with Baird and Frye both picking up six points, Damien-Givens Ford and Jaxon Smith both getting three and Napier 2 as the lead extended to 37-18. Frye had two three-point plays in the run and Givens-Ford and Smith each had one.
Bardstown would outscore Lincoln 11-2 over the remainder of the first half to make it 39-28. Jarel Montgomery scored nine of the 11 points, including nailing a trey, and Trey Phillips hit inside to close the half.
But the offense that had been so efficient for Lincoln in the first two quarters faded in the second half, as did the defense that held Bardstown to a 9-for-27 shooting mark before the break. The Tigers made good on 14 of 26 attempts from the field the second half, double the Patriots’ 7 of 20 effort, with four of their shots coming from 3-point range as they outscored Lincoln 19-6 to take a 47-45 lead into the fourth quarter.
The bulk of the damage done by Bardstown in the third quarter was by Dsamuel Butler. The senior guard, who was held scoreless the first half, scored 16 of his team-high 21 points in the third. Twelve of those points were off 3-point goals. His third trey of the period at the 2:02 mark gave Bardstown its first lead since early in the first quarter.
Frye drove inside for Lincoln’s last lead of the game, 49-48, at the 7:04 mark. At the 6:48 mark, a Traynor bucket wiped it away for good. The Patriots would force three ties before the final horn sounded on the Tigers’ victory.
“The kids played hard. I’m real proud of them for that,” Jackson said. “We got a lot of contributions from a lot of people. With the injuries, different kids will be getting more playing time and getting more game experience. And we’ve got to get our bigs involved more. We need to go to them more. Hopefully, we’ll continue to get better and improve as the season goes on and we’ll be healthy soon.”
Lincoln shot 48 percent from the field overall (22-for-46) while Bardstown finished at 54 percent (22-for-41). The Patriots were 18-for-22 from the foul line and the Tigers were 16-for-28.
Lincoln had nine turnovers to Bardstown’s seven.
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Campbellsville High School Holiday Classic
at Campbellsville H.S.
Lincoln 17 22 6 15 2 – 62
Bardstown 8 20 19 13 5 – 65
LINCOLN (4-8) – Bryson Yaden 3, Blake Smith 2, Elijah Frye 15, Damien Givens-Ford 3, Jaxon Smith 9, Darius Napier 7, Spencer Baird 21, Riley Bodner 4.
BARDSTOWN (5-5) – Dsamuel Butler 21, Montrez Railey 9, Jarel Montgomery 9, Jayden Traynor 8,Trey Riney 6, Tereylin Calbert 4, Trey Phillips 2, JT Galloway 6.
