8th Grade Eagles finish as state runner-up

Published 12:39 pm Thursday, February 14, 2019

The Lincoln County Middle School Eagles fell one game short of a perfect season, falling to Owensboro Middle School in the championship game of the Kentucky Basketball Commission (KBC) State Tournament in Lexington.

The Eagles were defeated 65-55 in Sunday’s finals to finish at 39-1.

Owensboro Middle pulled ahead of Lincoln 23-18 in the opening frame and would outscore the Eagles in three of the four quarters played to claim the championship trophy.

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Lincoln challenged Owensboro in a 13-12 second quarter to make it 36-30 at the half. Owensboro outscored Lincoln 19-13 in the third to extend the lead to 55-43.

The Eagles held the point advantage in the final frame, however, the 12-10 edge would not be enough to overcome Owensboro’s lead.

Lincoln had three players – Tramane Alcorn, Layne Lark and Zack Moore – hitting double figures in the loss. Alcorn had a team-high 26 points and Lark and Moore scored 12 points apiece. Moore and Lark combined for 13 rebounds, with Moore grabbing seven boards and Lark, six.

Jalen Smith contributed three points for Lincoln, Jansen McAninch had two points and Colton Ralston had four assists.

The Eagles, who are led by coach Eric Ralston, are: Tramane Alcorn, Connor Davis, Elan Lane, Layne Lark, Jansen McAninch, Trevor Miracle, Zack Moore, Blade Nuckols, Colton Ralston, Jackson Sims, Jalen Sims and Jackson Withrow.

Lincoln’s march to the finals included five straight wins over Jefferson County Traditional Middle School, Hazard Middle School, Knox County Middle School, Southern Pulaski Middle School and Woodford County Middle School.

Results of the games, semifinal victory back to opening win, follow:

Semifinal Round
Lincoln 60, Jefferson Traditional 57

Lincoln County punched its ticket to the championship game by knocking out defending champion Jefferson County Traditional Middle 60-57 in the semifinal round of the KBC State Tournament Sunday afternoon.

Tramane Alcorn and Layne Lark combined for 45 points and 16 rebounds in the win, with Alcorn leading the way with 27 points. He also had seven rebounds and four assists. Lark led on the glass with nine rebounds.

Lincoln, which led 17-15 after the first quarter, found itself on the wrong side of the scoreboard at the half, with Jefferson using a 19-11 second-quarter run to post a 34-28 lead at the break.

Jefferson held to the lead as the third quarter ended, but Lincoln’s 12-5 scoring advantage in the period pulled the Eagles within one, 41-40. The Eagles would close out the game with the game’s high-point effort, outscoring Jefferson 20-16 to seal the win.

Jansen McAninch scored seven points in the win, Zack Moore scored four points, Colton Ralston had two points and three assists and Trevor Miracle had two points.

Elite 8
Lincoln 58, Hazard 48

The Lincoln County Eagles continued their march through the KBC State Tournament with a 58-48 victory over Hazard Middle School in the Elite 8 round.

Hazard held the advantage at the end of the first two quarterstops, jumping on Lincoln 12-7 in the first. The Eagles turned the tables on Hazard in the second quarter, though, outscoring their opponent 11-7 to pull within 24-23 at the half.

Lincoln would own the scoring advantage in the third and fourth quarters, outpointing the Eagles 35-24 to earn the double-digit win. Lincoln outscored Hazard 14-10 in the third to make it 37-34 going into the fourth period then closed on a 21-14 run.

Three Eagles hit double figures in the win. Tramane Alcorn led the team with 13 points along with four assists, Layne Lark followed with 12 points and four assists and Trevor Miracle scored 11 points,

Rounding out the team scoring were Colton Ralston with nine points, four assists and three blocks, Zack Moore with nine points, five rebounds and three steals, Jansen McAninch with three points and Connor Davis with one point.

Sweet 16 Round
Lincoln 52, Knox 47

Lincoln County had to hold off Knox County Middle School to advance in the KBC State Tournament, handing Knox a 52-47 defeat Sunday morning in the Sweet 16 round.

The Eagles pulled ahead 16-12 in the first quarter then used a 13-11 second-quarter scoring edge to push that lead to 29-23 at the break.

Knox made a small dent in the Eagle lead in the third quarter, outscoring Lincoln 12-10 to make it a 39-35 ballgame. Lincoln would move on to edge Knox 13-12 in the fourth quarter to claim the win.

Leading the Eagles to victory were Layne Lark and Tramane Alcorn with 17 points apiece. Lark also had eight rebounds and Alcorn had six rebounds and three assists.

Colton Ralston had nine points and four assists, Zack Moore had nine points and six rebounds and Jansen McAninch had four assists.

Round of 32
Lincoln 43, Mason Co. 33

Lincoln County relied on an 18-4 third-quarter scoring surge to carry the Eagles to a 43-33 win over Mason County in the Round of 32 of the KBC state tourney Saturday.

Mason led 10-6 after the first quarter and held to a 17-14 lead at the half before Lincoln’s offense started clicking in the third. The 18-4 spurt pushed the Eagles ahead 32-21 at the end of three quarters before they moved on for the win.

Tramane Alcorn scored a team-high 15 points in the win and Colton Ralston and Layne Lark knocked down 10 points apiece. Ralston also had three steals and Lark had six rebounds.

Zack Moore added six points and got three steals, Trevor Miracle had two points and Jansen McAninch had three assists.

Round of 64.
Lincoln 56, So. Pulaski 38

Four Eagles hit double figures to lead Lincoln in a 56-38 win over Southern Pulaski Middle School in the KBC State Tournament Round of 64.

Colton Ralston finished with 15 points and five assists, Layne Lark double-doubled with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Zack Moore added 13 points and Tramane Alcorn got 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Lincoln led from the opening frame, jumping on Southern 19-8 in the first quarter. Southern outscored Lincoln 11-5 in the second quarter but the Eagles still took a 24-19 lead into the break.

The Eagles outscored Southern the rest of the way, turning a 19-9 third-quarter run into a 43-28 advantage then finishing up 13-10.

Jalen Smith added two points in the win and Jansen McAninch had five assists.

Pool Play
Lincoln 54, Woodford 24

Lincoln County earned itself the No. 6 seed in the KBC State Tournament 84-team field with a lopsided 54-24 win over Woodford County Middle School in pool play Friday night.

Lincoln knocked Woodford back on it feet in the first quarter, jumping out to a 12-2 start and the Eagles never looked back.

Woodford would outscore Lincoln 17-16 in the second quarter for a 28-19 margin at the break, but the Eagles outgunned Woodford in the second half, going on a 26-5 scoring tear. Lincoln outscored Woodford 14-3 in the third quarter and 12-2 in the fourth.

Tramane Alcorn paced Lincoln in the win with 15 points along with four steals and Colton Ralston followed with 13 points and eight assists. Layne Lark contributed eight points, Zack Moore had six points and six rebounds, Jansen McAninch and Trevor Miracle each had six points and Jalen Smith had three assists.