LINCOLN -- The Lincoln girls basketball team has two tournaments under its belt going into December.
Lincoln began the season competing in the Queens of the Court tournament, losing the opener then winning two at Green Forest. Lincoln coach Emilianne Slammons was eager to get an evaluation of how well her team would perform after guiding the Lady Wolves into the quarterfinals of the 3A State tournament last spring. The team they beat to qualify for state, Bergman, knocked Lincoln into the consolation bracket at Green Forest by winning 59-48 on Nov. 13.
"I was really ready to play and see how we looked against a good team. My post player, Robin Kirk, she showed up, but we just didn't out-score them," Slammons said.
Kirk had 15 points to lead Lincoln but Bergman came out hot scoring 22 points in the first period led by sophomore guard Kara Ponder, who made a trio of 3-pointers and scored a game-high 20 points. The Lady Wolves were better on defense for the remainder of the contest and held Bergman to 34 percent field goal shooting for the game, but couldn't catch up.
"The first quarter they knocked down so many shots we just couldn't get back up and then we played really well against Eureka Springs," Slammons said.
In between Lincoln beat Omaha, 46-38, with Kyli Jenkins notching 22 points. The Lady Wolves then took on Eureka Springs. Kirk (6 points) played almost even against Eureka Springs senior center 6-1 Megan Holloway (8 points). Eight girls scored including: Jenkins, 8; Tania Ortiz, 8; Landree Cunningham, 7; Kirk, 6, Abby Goldman, 6; Kinley Webb, 4; Arianna Ortiz, 4; and Jocelyn Watts, 2.
"Omaha, we won, but it was just an OK game. (Against) Eureka Springs, we just came out and got the ball inside. You know they got that big 6-1 girl and we just kept banging her inside, banging her inside, trying to get every offensive rebound," Slammons said. "That's one of our goals, too, is to win every rebound whether it's offensive or defensive. (I tell my girls) you guys try to get up and get the rebound so we win it."
Last week Lincoln hosted its second annual Turkey Shoot Tournament, again going 2-1, but getting into the championship.
Valley Springs 55, Lincoln 43
Lincoln trailed 23-17 at halftime, but used a 17-11 third quarter surge to tie the game at 34-34 going into the fourth quarter. Valley Springs pulled away in the final period by outscoring the Lady Wolves 21-9 to hand Lincoln a 55-43 loss.
Lincoln's last lead was 37-34. Valley Springs then scored 11 unanswered points to go up 45-37 before Lincoln broke the run. The next 10 points also belonged to the Lady Tigers as they put the game away running their lead up to 55-41.
Valley Springs 55, Lincoln 43
Valley Springs^7^16^11^21 -- 55
Lincoln^6^11^17^9 -- 43
Lincoln 40, Shiloh Christian 35
Lincoln's second-round game in the tourney on Monday, Nov. 25 had the Lady Wolves playing a rematch against Shiloh Christian, a team they defeated 61-45 days earlier on Nov. 21. The teams were aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses and tried to capitalize on vulnerabilities that had been exposed in their first meeting. This game was played at a much slower pace. Defeating Shiloh Christian was harder the second time around, yet Lincoln accomplished a win with the score much closer, 40-35.
Lincoln 40, Shiloh Christian 35
Shiloh Christian^10^10^11^4 -- 35
Lincoln^14^8^12^6 -- 40
Lincoln 60, Decatur 31
Lincoln opened the Turkey Shoot Tournament running away from Decatur by a 60-31 score on Saturday, Nov. 23. The Lady Wolves took control from the start leading 17-2 after one quarter and 38-11 at the half. A win was well in hand after three quarters with Lincoln ahead, 52-20, and the fourth quarter was played with a running clock.
Kyli Jenkins began a barrage of Lincoln 3-pointers hitting from the wing as Lincoln scored the first 10 points of the game sparked by steals and a Robin Kirk blocked shot. Decatur had no sooner got on the scoreboard than they gave up another trey. Kirk tipped a rebound to Arianna Ortiz, who passed out of the low block to Kinley Webb open at the top-of-the-key where she drilled the shot. Tania Ortiz took a steal near midcourt in for an uncontested layup increasing Lincoln's lead to 15-2.
Lincoln won every quarter except the fourth when they played mostly reserves. Kirk led the Lady Wolves with 15 points with Webb chipping in 13. Jenkins added 9, Goldman, 7; Cunnningham, 5; Tania Ortiz, 4; Watts, 2; Adair, 2; and Nadia Ortiz, 2.
Lincoln 60, Decatur 31
Decatur^2^9^9^11^--^31
Lincoln^17^21^14^8^--^60
Lincoln (4-1): Robin Kirk 15, Kinley Webb 13, Kyli Jenkins 9, Abby Goldman 7, Landree Cunningham 5, Tania Ortiz 4, Jocelyn Watts 2, Trinity Adair 2, Nadia Ortiz 2.
Decatur (0-4): Individual scoring totals not available.
GIRLS
Turkey Shoot Tournament
At Lincoln
First Round
Lincoln 61, Decatur 30
Shiloh Christian 58, Future School of Fort Smith 32
Elkins 57, Lifeway Christian 39
Valley Springs 46, Episcopal 29
Second Round
Lincoln 40, Shiloh Christian 35
Valley Springs 49, Elkins 42
Third Round
Lifeway Christian 67, Decatur 32
Elkins 53, Shiloh Christian 49 (Overtime)
Valley Springs 55, Lincoln 43
Sports on 12/04/2019