Lincoln County came up short in its bid for the KBA 8th Grade Middle School State Tournament title, with the Eagles being eliminated in the second round at Lexington.

The eighth-grade team, which is coached by Eric Ralston, was ousted from the single-elimination tourney in a 40-32 loss toE.J. Hayes Middle of Lexington. 

Lincoln (25-10) jumped on E.J. Hayes early, posting a 15-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, the first period was the only frame where the Eagles hit double-digit scoring.

E.J. Hayes outscored Lincoln 12-4 in the second quarter to deadlock the game at 19-19 at the half, then outpointed the Eagles 21-13 in the second half to earn the come-from-behind win. Hayes outscored Lincoln 11-8 in the third then closed on a 10-5 run.

Colin Green was Lincoln’s scoring leader, finishing with 12 points. Cruise Wilson had six points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks, Lee Amon got five points and seven rebounds, Skyler Quinn got five points and Clayton Davis had four points and three steals.

Lincoln went 2-2 in the state tourney, picking up wins over Westport Middle of Louisville (Pool Play) and St. Peter & Paul Middle, also of Louisville (first round bracket play). The other loss came in Pool Play as Lincoln fell to Woodford County Middle in its opening game.

Game results follow:

Pool Play Game #1 
Woodford 39, Lincoln 38

Woodford County Middle edged out Lincoln County 39-38 in Pool Play Game #1 of the 8th Grade Middle School State Tournament.

It was a closely-contested ballgame between the two schools, with Lincoln posting the early lead. The Eagles led 13-9 at the end of the first quarter and were up 23-18 at the half.

Woodford came back on Lincoln in the third quarter, though, outscoring the Eagles 12-7 to tie the game at 30-all. It was a back-and-forth battle throughout the fourth quarter before Woodford claimed the one-point win.

Lincoln was led in scoring byColin Green with 10 points. Skyler Quinn finished with eight points and three assists, Colton Ralston had seven points, Lee Amon had six points and 10 rebounds, Cruise Wilson had four points, 11 rebounds and three assists and Clayton Davis had three points.

Pool Play Game #2
Lincoln 41, Westport 36

Lee Amon and Cruise Wilson combined for 35 points and 20 rebounds to lead Lincoln in a 41-36 win over Westport Middle in Pool Play Game #2.

Amon paced LCMS with 19 points along with six rebounds and three steals and Wilson put up 16 points, grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and got two blocks.

The Eagles led after every quarterstop, nosing on top 9-7 in the first and holding to that two-point lead, 16-14, at the break. Lincoln added a little cushion to its lead in the third quarter, outscoring Westport 11-6 to take a 27-20 lead into the final frame.

Westport would outscore Lincoln in the fourth quarter, but the 16-14 advantage was not enough to overtake the Eagles.

Also contributing for Lincoln in the win were Clayton Davis, Colin Green and Tramane Alcorn, who scored two points apiece. Skyler Quinn had five assists.

Since Westport beat Woodford in their pool game by five, Lincoln got the No. 1 seed in the championship bracket and Westport was the 2 seed.

1st Round
LC 56, St. Peter & Paul 34

Lincoln steamrolled its way through the first round of the championship bracket in the 8th Grade Middle School State Tournament, crushing St. Peter & Paul Middle of Louisville 56-34.

A trio of double-digit scorers led the Eagles to the win, with Clayton Davis leading the way with 13 points and three assists. Colin Green followed right behind Davis with 12 points and two blocks and Layne Lark  was right on Green’s heels with 11 points.

Lincoln took control of the game early, exploding out to a 20-2 lead in the first quarter.

St. Peter and Paul’s offense improved after the opening frame and they were able to challenge Lincoln in scoring but the Louisville school never threatened the Eagles’ lead. Lincoln led 33-16 at the half and 46-29 going into the fourth quarter.

Cruise Wilson finished with seven points, three assists and three steals, Lee Amon added five points with two blocks, Zack Young got four points, and Landon McQueen and Colton Ralston each had two points. Skyler Quinn had five rebounds.