WEST FORK -- Libby Calico stole an in-bounds pass, handing the ball off to Holly Webb, who laid the ball in at the buzzer, but two points weren't enough.
Lincoln needed three as their girls basketball lost, 43-42, at West Fork Nov. 29. This was not how West Fork wanted to finish the game after building a 41-35 lead on a pair of foul shots just inside two minutes to play. Lincoln coach Brian Davenport called time-out after the second free throw and both teams went into a huddle. West Fork coach Rodney Selph had some instructions for the Lady Tigers.
"Be patient, pull it out," Selph said. "Switch on screens, we've got the lead. We've got to play good defense and get stops."
Lincoln in-bounded at the far end and went to the matchup they wanted with West Fork's 6-feet senior Holly Griffin chasing Lincoln's 5-feet-9 senior Darian McConnell. Both girls play center, but McConnell is more fleet of foot and has 3-point ability. McConnell got open on the perimeter and took a cross-court pass. She snapped a trifecta at the 1:29 mark to pull Lincoln within three, at 41-38.
For the next 52 seconds West Fork played keep away, milking the remaining time down to 37 seconds before Lincoln stopped the clock with a foul. Shannon Throgmorton made both shots of the double bonus to put West Fork back up by five. Lincoln point-guard Kendra Cummings drove the lane and got away an off-balance shot that missed. The Lady Wolves claimed an offensive rebound, but couldn't knock down a 3-pointer. The rebound was last touched by West Fork before going out-of-bounds.
After a time-out, Lincoln set up a play, in-bounding from the left corner with 7.8 seconds showing. Cummings was fouled and sank two free throws to make the score, 43-40, with the clock down to 3.7 seconds. Lincoln doubled up on the in-bounder with Calico stealing the pass, then getting an assist to Webb, but time ran out on the Lady Wolves despite the 2-point field goal and they lost by one point, 43-42.
Griffin's size helped West Fork over come a 30-29 Lincoln lead at the end of the third quarter. She scored 8 points in the period. Her offensive rebound 54 seconds into the fourth put West Fork in the lead. Griffin made 4 of 4 free throws and got an easy shot off a lob to push the Lady Tigers into a 39-34 advantage with 2:58 left. Davenport said going in the Lady Wolves knew they needed to contain the big girl.
"She was a factor in the game. We needed to keep her off the block and make her take shots she's uncomfortable taking. She got a couple of rebounds we needed late in the game and stuck them back in."
Lincoln countered with Cummings' put-back and Webb's jumper coming off a screen by McConnell.
"My hat's off to Coach Selph, West Fork played hard," Davenport said, adding, "I liked our defensive effort. We did a good job sticking to the game plan. We rebounded well for our size. I felt like we executed on offense fairly well."
Lincoln lost at Gentry, 48-37, on Friday. After playing at Gravette Tuesday, Lincoln hosts Greenland Friday.
West Fork 43, Lincoln 42
Lincoln^11^7^12^12^--^42
West Fork^13^6^10^14^--^43
Sports on 12/07/2016