Lady Wolves Defeat Gravette And Decatur

LINCOLN GIRLS IMPROVE TO 6-2

MIKE ECKELS NWA NEWSPAPERS Decatur's Sammie Skaggs (No. 24) puts up a jumper over Lady Wolves' Robin Kirk (No. 42) and Jessia Goldman (No. 45) during the third quarter of the Decatur-Lincoln varsity basketball contest at Lincoln High School Nov. 19. The Lady Bulldogs and Lady Wolves contest was part of the first round of the first Annual Turkey Shoot tournament action.
MIKE ECKELS NWA NEWSPAPERS Decatur's Sammie Skaggs (No. 24) puts up a jumper over Lady Wolves' Robin Kirk (No. 42) and Jessia Goldman (No. 45) during the third quarter of the Decatur-Lincoln varsity basketball contest at Lincoln High School Nov. 19. The Lady Bulldogs and Lady Wolves contest was part of the first round of the first Annual Turkey Shoot tournament action.

LINCOLN -- Robin Kirk's teammates looked for her early and often, executing a game plan to get the ball into the paint.

Gravette came in with a strategy to try and set the game at a pace the Lady Lions preferred offensively and get to the free throw line. On defense Gravette wanted to pressure the ball and defend the perimeter, but the Lady Lions had no answer for the 5-11 Lincoln junior center, whose 31 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks powered the Lady Wolves. Lincoln overcame a 12-4 first quarter deficit to post a convincing nonconference, 59-40, win over former 4A-1 foe Gravette on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018.

Lincoln used a variety of ways to feed Kirk in the post. Senior forward Jessica Goldman drew a lot of attention from the Lady Lions' defense, something Lincoln was able to successfully capitalize upon numerous times. One play started with Goldman catching the ball in the left corner, then giving up the rock to Libby Calico deep on the baseline. Calico passed to Kirk coming down the lane for an easy deuce.

Another play featured Goldman establishing position on the perimeter, then dealing the ball back to Kyli Jenkins out top. Jenkins promptly dumped the ball inside to Kirk cutting to the basket for a layup.

While Goldman was held to 3 points, Jenkins forced Gravette to respect her outside shot. She took a cross-court pass and drilled a wide-open 3-pointer on the right wing giving the Lady Wolves a 10-point advantage of 35-25 with 3:24 to go in the third quarter.

Jenkins ran the court and was rewarded with easy buckets in transition. Kirk's blocked shot and rebound kick-started a Lincoln fast-break with the outlet cleared to Averi Massey. Massey, who racked up 7 assists on the night, threw the ball out of the backcourt to Jenkins breaking for the goal and an uncontested score to open up a 15-point Lincoln lead, at 47-32, with 6:04 left in the game.

Massey recorded 4 points and 3 steals. She anticipated and stole a Gravette pass using her body as a shield with a Lady Lion bearing down on her. Massey expertly laid the ball in while absorbing contact to push Lincoln's lead to 52-35 midway through the fourth quarter.

Massey had an early assist to Kirk sprinting downcourt and taking a bounce pass in traffic to finish with a lay-in pulling Lincoln within, 12-11, in the second quarter. That basket provided two of the 20 points scored by the Lady Wolves in the second enabling them to take a 24-20 halftime lead.

Lincoln 59, Gravette 40

Gravette^12^8^12^8 -- 40

Lincoln^4^20^17^18 -- 59

Gravette (0-2): Individual scoring totals not available.

Lincoln (6-2): Robin Kirk 31, Kyli Jenkins 12, Tana Ortiz 6, Avery Massey 4, Jessica Goldman 3, Libby Calico 3.

Lincoln 61, Decatur 29

Lincoln handed Decatur a 61-29 loss to open the first annual Turkey Shoot basketball tournament in girls action at Lincoln High School Nov. 19.

Four Jessica Goldman 3-pointers sparked Lincoln's offense as the Lady Wolves opened up a 24-2 first quarter lead over Decatur and never looked back.

Goldman finished with 5 total 3-pointers, 17 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 4 steals while teammate Robin Kirk added 13 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and a blocked shot. She had at least 2 assists feeding outside shooters on passes out of the paint.

Goldman began the scoring frenzy for Lincoln by stroking a trey from the right side of the top-of-the-key. Her teammate sensed she was on track and began looking for her. Goldman's second trifecta came from the right corner on a kick-out by Kirk from the post. Libby Calico saw Goldman open on the right wing and fed her the ball where she snapped her third 3-pointer with a defender jumping out too late.

Tania Ortiz set up Goldman's fourth 3-pointer of the period by bringing the ball down, then leaving it for Goldman while setting a screen.

Failure to defend the perimeter cost Decatur dearly as Lincoln made them pay for leaving open shooters behind the arc. In the second quarter Avery Massey drove the lane, then realizing no Decatur defenders were outside the box, dished to Kylie Jenkins, who hit for three from the left wing. Lincoln led 37-15 at the half.

In the third quarter Massey saw Goldman get open on the right wing in transition and got the ball to her. Goldman's fifth 3-pointer of the contest pushed Lincoln out to a 41-18 lead. The margin increased to 25 points with Massey making a steal while falling down yet maintaining presence of mind to pass to Tania Ortiz, who nailed a short pull-up jumper to make the score, 43-18, with 4:18 left in the third.

Abby Goldman got in the act, swishing her own trifecta on an assist by Kirk working the inside-out game. Lincoln was up big, 52-21, at the end of the third quarter and coasted to a 61-29 win.

Lincoln 61, Decatur 29

Decatur^2^13^6^8 -- 29

Lincoln^24^13^15^9 -- 61

Decatur (1-4): Sammie Skaggs 9, Annabelle Schopper 6, Destiny Mejia 5.

Lincoln (4-2): Jessica Goldman 17, Robin Kirk 13, Kyli Jenkins 11, Tana Ortiz 5, Avery Massey 4, Arianna Ortiz 4, Abby Goldman 3, Kinley Webb 3.

Rebounds -- Decatur 30, Lincoln 34 (Kirk 9). Assists -- Decatur 3, Lincoln 15. Steals -- Decatur 7, Lincoln 12 (Goldman 4, Kirk 3). Blocks -- Decatur 1, Lincoln 1 (Kirk).

Sports on 12/05/2018