STANFORD — Before the Lincoln County Middle School boys basketball teams broke for the Christmas holidays, they squeezed in another sweep. This time it was visiting Salt River Conference rival Mercer County going down to defeat.

The sixth-grade team got the winning started with a 53-15 rout, the seventh-grade team rolled 64-36 and the eighth-grade Eagles closed with a 68-28 cruise.

The sixth-grade team, led by coach Steve Ralston improved to 16-8 overall, 8-2 in Salt River Conference (SRC) play. The seventh-grade Eagles, coached by Carl-Lewis Cummins moved to 18-4 overall, 9-1 in the SRC. And the eighth-graders, led by Eric Ralston, remained undefeated, moving to 24-0, 10-0 in the SRC.

Game results follow:

Mercer Co. at Lincoln

6th Grade
Lincoln 53, Mercer 15

Gavin Douglas paced the sixth-grade Eagles with 18 points in their 53-15 rout of visiting Mercer County in Salt River Conference action at LCMS.

Douglas, who also had four assists and five steals, was joined in double figures by Kash Smith, who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Lincoln took control of the game in the opening frame, jumping out to an 18-6 lead.

Both teams were in single digits in the second quarter, with Lincoln edging Mercer 8-5 to increase its lead to 26-11 at the break.

The Eagles blew the game wide open in the third quarter, outscoring Mercer 21-4, then shut out the visitors in the final period to earn the lopsided victory.

Sawyer Robbins contributed seven points in the win, Troy Lee had four points, Brennin Hazlett had two points and three steals and Matthew Slone, Jax Reynolds, Tucker Elkins, Toby Sallee and Zeke Wallin all had two points apiece.

Mercer 6 5 4 0 – 15
Lincoln 18 8 21 6 – 53

7th Grade
Lincoln 64, Mercer 36

Brothers Seth Horton and Sawyer Horton combined for 35 points and 10 rebounds in the seventh-grade Eagles’ 64-36 whipping of Mercer County in Salt River Conference play.

Seth led the way with a game-high 20 points along with three blocked shots. Sawyer double-doubled in the win, knocking down 15 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. He also had four assists.

Mercer led at the end of the first quarterstop, 12-8, but it was Lincoln on top at the half, as the Eagles outscored Mercer 15-10 in the second period to edge ahead 23-22.

Lincoln used double-digit scoring to put away Mercer in the second half. The Eagles doubled up on Mercer 22-10 in the third to take a 45-32 lead going into the fourth quarter then closed on a 19-4 run for the final.

Connor Davis scored seven points and had four assists and three steals for Lincoln, Jackson Withrow got six points and seven rebounds, Blade Nuckols finished with five points and three assists, Elan Lane had four points and three assists, Andrew Simmerman had three points and Landon Day and Kash Smith both had two points.

Mercer 12 10 10 4 – 36
Lincoln 8 15 22 19 – 64

8th Grade
Lincoln 68, Mercer 28

Lincoln County’s eighth-grade Eagles scored almost as many points in the first quarter as Salt River Conference rival Mercer County did for the game, as they cruised 68-28.

The Eagles exploded out to a 26-6 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.

Lincoln posted double-digit scoring in every period while holding Mercer to single digits.

Lincoln took a 47-14 lead into the half and led 61-23 going into the fourth quarter.

The Eagles had three players hitting double figures in the win, led by Layne Lark and Tramane Alcorn with 14 points apiece. Lark also had five assists and six steals while Alcorn had six assists and three steals. Zack Moore rounded out the trio of double-digit scorers with 13 points. He also had five rounds.

Rounding out Lincoln’s team statistics were Jansen McAninch with nine points and five steals, Jalen Smith with eight points, Colton Ralston with six points, four assists and four steals, Trevor Miracle with three points and Seth Horton with one point.

Mercer 6 8 9 5 – 28
Lincoln 26 21 147 – 68