LINCOLN -- The Lincoln boys basketball team couldn't find a solution to Tiger star Wyett Kutz while losing a 3A-1 Conference game, 80-65, to West Fork on Friday, Feb. 5 at the Tiger Dome.
Kutz consistently broke Lincoln's defense down, scoring both driving to the basket and shooting 3-pointers or setting up his teammates with his passing. Kutz finished with 37 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists. He had a lot of help attacking the Wolves with teammate, Eli Howerton, also lighting up the basket from downtown adding 21 points on six 3-pointers.
With so much defensive attention riveted on those two, West Fork went to its third option getting Stoker Cornelius open along the baseline and he added 13 points.
Kutz started off hot and never cooled off. He hit a trio of treys and scored 15 points as West Fork exploded for 24 first quarter points. Lincoln kept pace with a more balanced offense led by senior Eli Rich contributing 8 of the Wolves' 18 first-quarter points.
The game got away with West Fork outscoring Lincoln 18-5 in the second quarter to take a 42-23 halftime lead, but the Wolves made a hard charge to make things interesting late in the contest. Lincoln poured in 25 points in the third quarter to 20 for the Tigers cutting the deficit to 62-48.
The last 44 seconds of the third period proved decisive. A West Fork player cleared a Lincoln defender off using his elbow while driving and scoring. Lincoln fans wanted a charging call, but the basket counted. Weston Massey came off a screen to knock down a pull-up jumper and Lincoln had a chance to get within a dozen points, but Daytin Davis' had his basket erased when a charging call went in favor of the hometown Tigers with 5.9 seconds left in the third.
Those two points Lincoln didn't get and another charging call against Davis when Howerton flopped early in the fourth loomed large because the Wolves mounted a 14-2 run over a 4:05 span to get back in the game. Davis scored twice in the paint including an old-fashioned 3-point play trimming the Tiger lead to 62-56.
Cornelius got a big bucket for West Fork dancing across the lane, but Davis scored two times in 20 seconds to cap Lincoln's run. He showed his strength on a post move, then recovered the ball after being stripped going to the basket and put in one more field goal narrowing West Fork's lead to 64-60 with 4:20 to go.
West Fork coach Kelby Drennan wisely called time-out and was able to disrupt Lincoln's momentum with the Tigers ending the game on a 16-5 run to win 80-65.
West Fork 80, Lincoln 65
Lincoln^18^5^25^17 -- 65
West Fork^24^18^20^18 -- 80
West Fork (7-11, 3-8): Wyett Kutz 10 8-8 37, Eli Howerton 7 0-0 21, Stoker Cornelius 4 3-3 13, Kole Pennington 3 1-2 7, Brennan Cash 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 17-22 80.
Lincoln (12-10, 6-4): Daytin Davis 10 8-11 28, Eli Rich 7 3-4 20, Weston Massey 4 2-2 11, Kyler Calvin 1 0-0 3, Tyler Brewer 1 0-0 3, Austin Munyon 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 11-23 65.
3-Point Goals -- Lincoln 8 (D. Davis 4, Remington 2, Massey, Rich), West Fork 7 (Cornelius 3, Pennington 2, Eli Howerton, Ethan Howerton).