LINCOLN -- A dead-ball sequence tipped the scales heavily toward Shiloh Christian's favor as the Saints robbed the Lady Wolves with a 57-55 Shiloh win in overtime at Lincoln Thursday.
Lincoln was leading 45-43 in the third when Natalie Howard had her legs cut out from underneath her leading to a steal by Shiloh. With Howard writhing on the floor, a touch foul was called against Lincoln at the other end. While play was halted, Lincoln was assessed a technical foul. Shiloh sophomore Idalia Enos made all four free throws. From that juncture, the complexion of the game changed with Lincoln losing the lead and Shiloh drawing momentum from the no-call and technical.
Shiloh Christian 57, Lincoln 55 Overtime
Shiloh Christian^10^10^8^23^6^—^57
Lincoln^18^15^6^12^4^—55
Shiloh Christian (5-9): Idalia Enos 10 10-10 31, Kennedy Berus 5 0-1 10, Jordan Rochelle 3 0-0 8, Anna Johnson 0 4-6 4, Caroline Johnson 1 0-0 2, Alexa James 0 1-4 1, Rachel Brooks 0 1-2 1. Totals 19 16-23 57.
Lincoln (2-11): Natalie Howard 7 4-5 18, Kendra Cummings 6 1-2 14, Jessica Goldman 2 3-4 8, Allison Cunningham 2 3-3 7, Darian McConnell 2 0-0 5, Hollie Webb 1 0-0 2, Libby Calico 0 1-2 1. Totals 20 12-16 55.
3-Point Goals Goals — Shiloh Christian 3 (Rochelle 2, Enos, Lincoln 3 (Cummings, Goldman, McConnell). Total Fouls — Shiloh Christian 15, Lincoln 17.
"That did shift it," said Lincoln coach Brian Davenport. "After the technicals I think we lost a little bit of focus. We had to regain it quickly. We missed some easy shots. We missed some defensive assignments. My girls have to learn those little details are what cost us ball-games. We're going to fix it. I know their character and I know their effort. It's just a tough journey."
Lincoln tied the game at 47 on Jessica Goldman's free throws after she got her own offensive rebound. Shiloh answered with Alexa James' free throw. Kendra Cummings gave Lincoln one last lead at the 1:45 mark when she cut to the basket and her teammates found her. Enos played the entire fourth quarter and overtime, 12 minutes in all with four fouls, and she would do plenty of damage in that time frame, scoring 14 fourth-quarter points -- never being whistled for her fifth. An Enos layup gave Shiloh back the lead, which was extended to 51-49 when Anna Johnson made 1 of 2 foul shots.
Goldman tied the game at 51-all by extending her arm and kissing the ball off the glass to convert a left-handed layup. Enos misfired on a 3-pointer and Kennedy Berus couldn't get the follow to go down so the game went into overtime. Howard came back out, but still smarting from the knot on her face missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Enos got an offensive rebound by accident and laid the ball in. Carley Johnson's free throw pushed the Saints ahead by three, at 54-51.
Lincoln senior Darian McConnell rebounded the missed free throw, then scored at the other end. Forced to foul, Lincoln stopped the clock with 35 seconds left in overtime and Shiloh made 1 of 2 free throws. The Lady Wolves missed a potential game-tying shot, but McConnell got her hands on the rebound. She was pushed out of bounds underneath the basket, but no foul was called. Shiloh took a four-point lead of 57-53 with 17 seconds left when Carley Johnson made both free throws.
Kendra Cummings dribbled through the Saints' defense for a layup with 10.5 seconds showing and James could not make a free throw in two tries with the clock down to 4.9 seconds. McConnell cleared the rebound and quickly brought the ball up, but tried to pass instead of shooting and time expired with Enos' steal.
Lincoln dominated the latter part of the first half, breaking away from a tie at 18 with a 15-2 run over the last five minutes. Cummings scored twice in the paint and Howard made a pair of uncontested layups off steals. She added another set up by Cummings' outlet pass after a defensive rebound. Allison Cunningham hit a turnaround jumper from 15-feet out and Goldman capped the run with a 3-pointer. Cummings' man-to-man defense on Enos was a factor. Enos worked hard against Cummings so that by the time she got to the rim, she missed and Cummings rebounded preserving a 33-20 halftime lead for the Lady Wolves.
Despite a 6:33 scoring drought in the third quarter, Lincoln maintained a 39-28 lead going into the fourth due to holding Shiloh to 5 points in the last five minutes of the third. The loss was not what Davenport wanted, yet he sees continued improvement.
"We're playing good basketball so I'm not too concerned," Davenport said. "It's just the little details it takes to win in such a tough league."
Sports on 01/11/2017