Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

STANFORD — The Lincoln County Patriots turned a slow start into an easy finish Friday night, rolling to their 19th win of the season in a decisive 70-35 victory over the visiting Garrard County Lions.

Eight minutes, 36 seconds into the 45th District matchup, Garrard led 15-10. Lincoln (19-6, 4-1 district) used the next 7:24 to overtake the visitors, ripping off a 16-3 run for a 26-18 halftime lead. The Patriots never looked back, completely taking control in the second half by outscoring the Lions 44-17.

“I thought our kids played really, really well from the second quarter on,” Lincoln coach Jeff Jackson said. “We did some good things defensively in the first quarter. Our zone defense was really, really good the second half. The kids were active out of it and we were able to get some rebounds and get some transition baskets and hit some open 3’s. It was a good win for us, a district win.”

Lincoln’s top four scorers poured in all the points in the go-ahead 16-3 run in the second quarter. Bryston Alcorn, who led the Patriots with 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting, 3-for-6 from 3, drove inside for layup to ignite a run-opening 11-0 scoring spurt. He also bombed in a 3-pointer. Jaxon Smith, who had 14 points on 4-for-9 shooting, and Baylor Mattingly, who scored 12 points on 4-for-8 3-point shooting, also hit from behind the arc. Elijah Frye, who finished with 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting, had a free throw toss and two layups in the run, including one layup with 2.3 ticks left in the first half to put the Patriots up 26-18 at the break.

Lincoln, which finished at 57 percent overall from the field, going 25-for-44, shot 67 percent in the second quarter, connecting on 6 of 9 shot attempts. Garrard, which was just 32 percent from the field, going 11-for-34, was 0-for-7 in the second. Brayden Sebastian, who led all scorers with 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting, and Austin Adams had two free throws apiece for Garrard in the period.

The Patriots extended their run from 16-3 to 22-3 early in the third quarter, with Frye and Mattingly hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to cushion Lincoln’s lead to 32-18.  Garrard (6-16, 2-5) got within 10, 33-23 off a Sebastian bucket and three-point play only to have Lincoln extend its lead back to 19 points by the end of the third.

Frye bombed in two 3-pointers, including a buzzer-beater to make it 48-27 heading into the fourth quarter and the Patriots closed on a 22-8 run, posting their largest lead, 70-35, at the final buzzer.

“It’s a battle every time. The Sebastian kid’s a really good player and Ryan (Young, Garrard coach) does a good job coaching his kids. It’s always a battle and I’m real proud of our kids,” said Jackson. “Slow start, but we got there. Being out of school for two days … We had our practices and stuff, but it’s just a different feel when you’re not in your routine and in school.”

All 15 players on the Patriot bench saw action in the game.

“A lot of good things. A lot of contributions from a lot of different people on both ends of the floor,” Jackson said. “We had kids diving on the floor at the end of the game in Cade (Jenkins) and Clayton (Davis) … All those guys play so hard every day in practice and it’s really, really good for them to get an opportunity. Those guys and Preston (Durham), Colin (Green) and Brady (Weaver), Jalen (Smith). It’s rewarding for them to get out there and play and play as hard as they did.”

“I’m just real happy for our team. All wins are good this time of year. They’re all good at any time of the year, but especially a district game at home.”

Garrard 14 4 9 8 – 35

Lincoln 10 16 22 22 – 70

GARRARD (6-16, 2-5) – Ian Alcorn 4, Noah Allen 4, Austin Adams 2, Chase Burkhart 2, Brayden Sebastian 16, Brandon Brooks 4, Montavin Quisenberry 3.

LINCOLN (19-6, 4-1) – Bryston Alcorn 15, Jansen McAninch 2, Tramane Alcorn 3, Elijah Frye 12, Colton Ralston 3, Jaxon Smith 12, Baylor Mattingly 14, Brady Weaver 5, Riley Bodner 4.