Both teams had trouble scoring, in fact only four players scored for the Lincoln County High boys basketball team and five for Needles. However, in the end Lincoln pulled out a thrilling 47-44 overtime win before a near capacity crowd in Panaca last Friday.
Derek Shumway and McClain O’Connor were the main offense for Lincoln with 22 and 15 points respectively.
But both teams struggled offensively, missing many shots from close in and outside. As regulation time was winding down, neither team could score inside and the game went to overtime tied at 38.
Shumway hit a three point shot at 2:41 of the overtime to give the Lynx a 43-40 lead, which they never gave up, then he made two free throws with 20 seconds left and a 47-42 lead.
Lincoln was 14-for-17 (82 percent) at the foul line and Needles only 6-of-12.
“It was a physical dogfight on both ends,” said Lincoln coach Matt Cameron. Both team struggled scoring. Defensively, I think we did a good job and especially in the second half on the defensive boards, and I think that’s what won the game for us besides free throws.”
He added, “We’re small inside and streaky on the outside, so we’ve got to get to the line and to the paint.”
Shumway said, “It was physical, but I thought we just played hard the whole game, just kept pushing and that’s what got us the win. We’re trying to really hustle and give everything we’ve got every game.”
The next night against visiting Laughlin, Lincoln took a 58-32 win. The boys broke out to a 22-0 first quarter lead, 36-6 at halftime and never needed to look back. “We played a lot of our bench most of the game. It was a good opportunity for them to get some experience,” Cameron said.
“Laughlin has one really good ball player (Corey Anderson), “but he struggled as we put a lot of pressure on him,” Cameron said. “He got one point in the first half, and after we put our bench in, then he started to score.” Anderson finished with 15 points for the Cougars (3-9, 0-5). Sam Anderson led Lincoln with 13 points.
This past Tuesday, Lincoln’s Mike Wood had 14 points against White Pine to lead the Lynx to a 54-40 win. Lincoln (6-9, 5-2) jumped out to a 25-6 first quarter lead and Cameron again used his bench quite a bit.
Preston Robbins and Derek Shumway each scored eight points for the Lynx.
Chris Young paced White Pine (1-7, 1-6) with 13 points and teammate Nate Lee scored 11.
This weekend Lincoln faces league leader and unbeaten Agassi Prep (11-0, 6-0), then a non-league game with Virgin Valley (6-9), coached by former LCHS player Sean FitzSimons.
Cameron said he knows the game with Agassi, the defending Division III state champion, will be especially hard. Agassi is averaging 71.7 points per game, compared to 49.4 for Lincoln. “Every team we’ve played close, they have beat handily, so we’ll have a tough time.”
