Lincoln corrals Colts in 62-49 home win
Published 1:08 pm Thursday, December 13, 2018
STANFORD — Blake Smith and Elijah Frye combined for 39 points to help Lincoln beat visiting West Jessamine 62-49 Tuesday night.
Smith had a game-high 21 points on 6-for-14 shooting, 4-for-8 from 3-point range, while Frye contributed 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting. He was 4-for-5 at the foul line. Smith was 5-for-6 on free throws.
The Patriots (4-2) scored the first six points of the game but then missed eight of their next 11 field goal attempts to allow the Colts to go on a 13-7 run and nose ahead 14-13 early in the second quarter.
However, Lincoln, which shot 44.2 percent overall (23-for-52), responded with an 11-2 run and never trailed again, leading by as many as 14 points.
West (5-2) finished at 40 percent shooting (18-for-45).
“I thought we did some good things tonight,” Lincoln coach Jeff Jackson said. “Defensively, I thought we were pretty good. We kept them out of the lane. We did a really good job controlling the tempo with our defense. We did some pretty good things offensively, too.”
While pleased with the win, Jackson said all was not perfect for the Patriots.
“We missed too many easy shots. We’ve got to make layups. And we’ve got to make free throws down the stretch,” he said. “We were 9 for 14 on our free throws and a couple of those are late front ends that you’ve got to make.”
Frye scored the game’s first bucket and added two free throws in Lincoln’s opening 6-0 run. Jaxon Smith, who finished with seven points, provided the other two points, scoring on a putback.
Jackson Green hit inside for West’s first bucket with 6:20 still to go in the first. Despite a slump in its offense, Lincoln held to an 11-4 lead off a Riley Bodner bucket and a Blake Smith 3-pointer.
Yallen Woods would do his part to chip away at the Patriot lead during the Colts’ 13-7 run by draining two 3-pointers late in the first to make it 13-10. DeAjuan Stepp opened the second-quarter scoring then Dalton Bruner, who led West with 19 points on 8-for-18 shooting, went baseline for a bucket and a 14-13 Colt lead.
Blake Smith bombed in a 3-pointer at the 6:03 mark to ignite Lincoln’s 11-2 go-ahead run in the second quarter. Smith followed with another field goal, Frye converted on a three-point play and Jaxon Smith stepped behind the arc for his own 3 to give Lincoln a 24-16 lead.
The Patriots posted their largest lead of the first half just before the buzzer as Bryston Alcorn drained a 3-pointer to make it 31-22 at the break.
Lincoln pulled ahead by 14 points midway through the third quarter. Frye scored on a putback for a 42-28 margin only to have West answer with a 10-2 run to close the period. Bruner had five of the 10 points, Stepp had a three-point play and Braeden Fomas added a layup to cut the Lincoln lead to 44-38 going into the fourth quarter.
Lincoln led by at least six points over the remainder of the game.
“We’ve got to try to keep getting better, keep improving, have better practices,” said Jackson. “We’ve just got so much to do but the chemistry is good and the kids are so focused. I thought all the kids that played did a really good job.”
Jackson credited West Jessamine for a hard-fought game.
“They are a very good team,” he said. “They are well-coached and they did a good job tonight.”
Lincoln picked up a win on the glass as well Tuesday night, outrebounding West 38-26. Riley Bodner grabbed a game-high 13 boards. Bryson Yaden, Blake Smith and Jaxon Smith each had five rebounds. Bruner led West with five boards.
At Lincoln Co.
West Jess. 10 12 16 11 – 49
Lincoln 13 18 13 18 – 62
WEST JESSAMINE (5-2) – Braeden Fomas 8, Yallen Woods 6, Dalton Bruner 19, Jackson Green 2, DeAjuan Stepp 8, Michael Thalacker 1, Nate Breeden 1, Clayton Winter 4.
LINCOLN (4-2) – Bryston Alcorn 7, Bryson Yaden 3, Blake Smith 21, Elijah Frye 18, Jaxon Smith 7, Riley Bodner 6.