Eagles claim 2 SRC titles
Published 11:48 am Thursday, February 7, 2019
Fans of Lincoln County Middle School boys basketball had plenty of reason to celebrate Monday night as the Eagles claimed two of the three titles up for grab in the championship round of the Salt River Conference (SRC) Postseason Tournament at West Jessamine Middle School.
Lincoln County courted victory in the seventh- and eighth-grade finals, with the seventh-graders besting Bondurant Middle School of Frankfort 45-30 and the eighth-graders beating Boyle County Middle School 46-35.
Lincoln’s sixth-grade team could not muster a win in the SRC finals, with Anderson County Middle School proving too much, cruising 42-21.
7th Grade Championship
The seventh-grade team, led by coach Carl-Lewis Cummins, took control of its finals game in the first half, outscoring Bondurant 24-8 to set them on course for the 45-30 victory.
Sawyer Horton and Connor Davis combined for 32 points to lead the Eagles to the win. Horton led the team with 20 points along with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals and Davis finished with 12 points and three steals.
Lincoln (28-7) led 11-6 at the end of one and used a 13-2 second-quarter run to post a 24-8 advantage.
Bondurant chipped away at the Lincoln lead in the third quarter, going on a 17-7 scoring surge to trim the deficit to six, 31-25, heading into the fourth quarter.
The Eagles would hold off the comeback effort, though, closing on a 14-5 run to preserve the win.
Jackson Withrow contributed nine points and had six rebounds for Lincoln and Seth Horton had four points and four assists. Elan Lane had five rebounds and three assists.
8th Grade Championship
Coach Eric Ralston and his eighth-grade Eagles remained perfect on the season, improving to 33-0 overall with their 46-35 win over the Eagles of Boyle County in the Salt River Conference Tournament championship game.
Tramane Alcorn, Layne Lark and Trevor Miracle combined for 33 points to lead Lincoln, with Alcorn leading the team scoring with 12 points, Lark right behind him with 11 points and Miracle following with 10 points.
Lincoln led after every quarterstop, opening on top 9-6. The margin stood at 20-13 at the half.
The Eagles built on their lead in the third quarter, using a 14-4 scoring edge to take a 34-17 lead into the final frame.
Boyle did outscore Lincoln in the fourth, but the 18-12 margin was too little, too late to knock off the tourney favorite.
Zack Moore and Jansen McAninch rounded out the team scoring, with Moore getting nine points to go with four steals and McAninch scoring four points with three assists. Colton Ralston had three steals.
6th Grade Championship
The sixth-grade Eagles, who were the SRC regular-season runners-up, also finished second in the postseason tourney, with Anderson County Middle handily beating Lincoln 42-21.
The sixth-grade team, which is coached by Steve Ralston, stumbled early, managing just one free-throw toss in the first quarter while Anderson tallied 15 points.
Both teams scored just six points apiece in the second quarter to make it 21-7 at the break. But Anderson was off and gunning again in the third quarter, outscoring the Eagles 17-7 to extend its lead to 38-14 before moving on for the win.
Matthew Slone topped Lincoln’s scoring with five points. He also had six rebounds. Gavin Douglas, Kash Smith and Jack Smith had three points each, Sawyer Robbins, Zeke Wallin and Reece Carlton had two points apiece, and Troy Lee had one point.
The sixth-grade Eagles finish the season 30-11.