Lincoln received some good news and some bad news this past week as injury woes continue to plague the Cardinals sophomore class. The good news was that Riley Sanders returned to action for the Otterville Tournament. He was the leading scorer in all three games. On Thursday night, he pumped in 20 points and made two big free throws in Lincoln's 50-46 victory for third place over the number one seed Northwest Mustangs.
The bad news came in the form of Anthony Srader's recurring shoulder injury. He is now out for the season and we wish him our best in his continued recovery.
The sixth seeded Cardinals struggled at the free throw line but made the big ones in the end. They were 12 for 25 from the line. Lincoln trailed 10-9 after one and led 20-19 at the break.
The taller Northwest squad led 36-28 after three and things looked bleak for the Cardinals. Someone forgot to tell Sanders as he had 10 points in the fourth and tied the game on a three at 37 and put Lincoln ahead at 39-37. Cam Everhart hit a huge three from the corner with 14.8 seconds on the clock to make it 46-38.
Northwest junior Clay Crooker hit a three. Everhart made a free throw and it was 47-43. Blaine Arnett hit a three for his only points of the game and it was 47-46. Northwest fouled the Sandman and he made two free throws with nine seconds left. He was fouled again and made the first to seal the deal at 50-46.
Lincoln was able to cut down turnovers and played good defense. Northwest threw a zone and a full court press at Lincoln at various times but the boys in red are a scrappy bunch and they survived the onslaught.
Coach Tyler Burke said, "We are playing extremely good defense and we are putting ourselves in opportunities to win games. Free throws and turnovers are things we just have to get better at. Injuries are hurting us but we are fortunate to have several talented kids to turn to."
Lincoln improved to 3-6 on their 2023-24 campaign.
LINCOLN (50): Sanders, 20; Everhart, 7; Eckhoff, 10; Cole, 2; Smith, 6; Young, 3.
NORTHWEST (46): Crooker, 20; Carer, 10; Boss, 4; Arnett, 3; Johnson, 9.
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On Tuesday, Lincoln fell to number two seed Iberia by a final score of 48-44.
Sanders scored Lincoln's first ten points and led 11-2 early. The Cardinals led 13-6 after one. Turnovers killed Lincoln. Free throw shooting wasn't bad at 10 of 14.
Iberia led 13-18 at the half thanks to a buzzer beater. It was 35-29 after three.
Lincoln tied it at 42 with 9 seconds left. Iberia put the game away with a couple of snow birds as Lincoln's defense faltered in the end. Iberia started five seniors as their experience showed against the young Lincoln team and they went on to beat Bunceton 58-52 to win the tournament on Thursday.
Coach Burke commented, "They were a physical team. We turned the ball over way too much. We are just going have to find the right combinations to improve with experience to handle those situations better."
On Saturday, Lincoln beat three seeded Hermitage 45-30. Sanders, in his first game back, had 11 points to led Lincoln. It was 14-13 at the half. Sanders is averaging 17 points per game.
