The Lincoln County Middle School seventh-grade team fell short in its bid for a state title, bowing out in the Sweet 16 round of the Kentucky Basketball Commission (KBC) State Tournament in Lexington.

The Eagles cruised through their first two games only to falter in the Round of 32 teams. The loss did not mean Lincoln’s exit from the tourney, though, with all the teams falling in the Round of 32 moving to the Sweet 16 Silver Bracket.

However, one more game would be all the Eagles would get in the state tourney, as Bondurant Middle School of Frankfort knocked Lincoln out in the Sweet 16 round with a 65-52 win.

Lincoln fell behind 17-13 in the first quarter and saw the deficit grow in the second period as Bondurant exploded on a 25-14 run to push its lead to 42-27.

The Eagles would outscore Bondurant in the second half, however, the 25-23 scoring edge never threatened Bondurant’s early lead.

Jackson Withrow burned the nets for 30 points to lead Lincoln. Connor Davis added six points and got five assists, Blade Nuckols also got six points, Landon Day scored three points and had five rebounds, Andrew Simmerman, Breydon Hatter and Kash Smith all had two points and Matthew Slone had one point.

Results from the preliminaries follow:

Pool Play Game
Lincoln 44, Georgetown 22

Lincoln County Middle kicked off the KBC State Tournament with a big win, routing Georgetown Middle School 44-22.

The game was deadlocked at 6-all at the end of the first then Lincoln opened up the game, using a 13-6 second-quarter scoring run to post a 19-12 halftime lead.

Lincoln would hold Georgetown to single digits in every quarter. Meanwhile, the Eagles were putting up dougle digits, outpointing their opponent 12-8 in the third and 13-2 in the fourth for the double-digit win.

Jackson Withrow paced Lincoln with 14 points and Connor Davis followed with 12 points. Withrow also had seven rebounds while Davis had seven assists.

Seth Horton finished with eight points, Sawyer Horton had six points and 10 rebounds and Blade Nuckols and Elan Lane each had two points.

Round of 64
Lincoln 59, Millard Middle 37

Sawyer Horton, Seth Horton and Connor Davis combined for 38 points to help Lincoln to a 59-37 win over Millard Middle School of Pike County in the KBC State Tournament Round of 64.

Sawyer had a team-high 16 points, Seth had 11 points and nine rebounds and Davis had 11 points, six assists and seven steals.

Consistent double-digit scoring helped Lincoln put Millard away. Lincoln led 12-9 after the first and went on a 15-7 second-quarter run to make it 27-15 at the break.

The Eagles practically doubled up on Millard in the third quarter, 15-8, to cushion their lead to 42-23 heading into the fourth quarter. The scoring margin in the fourth was 17-13, Lincoln.

Bruce Nuckols scored nine points for Lincoln in the win, Elan Lane had five points, Andrew Simmerman, three points, and Landon Day and Breydon Hatter, two points apiece.

Round of 32
Warren East 50, Lincoln 46

Lincoln got the jump on Warren East in the KBC State Tournament Round of 32, but the Eagles could not hold on for the win, as Warren East advanced in the Championship bracket with a 50-46 win.

The Eagles were up 14-8 at the end of the first quarter and held to a 26-23 lead at the half.

But Warren East would surge in the second half. East outscored Lincoln 13-7 in the third to move ahead 36-33 then edged the Eagles 14-13 in the fourth to clinch the win.

Sawyer Horton tallied 15 points to lead Lincoln’s scoring and Seth Horton followed with 13 points. Seth also had five steals. Blade Nuckols finished with seven points, Connor Davis got six points, Elan Lane had four points and four assists and Jackson Withrow had one point and six rebounds.