Lincoln County, the three-time defending league tournament champions just couldn’t hold on to the lead they had in this year’s Division III Southern League semi-final with White Pine in Las Vegas last week at Spring Valley High.
Junior Debra Kingston scored five of her team’s first seven points early in the fourth quarter to lead the Bobcats to a 44-36 win over the Lynx. She scored eight of her game high 12 points in the final quarter.
After her sister Britney tied the game at 26-26, Kingston’s spin move under the basket drew a foul, and her three-point play ignited the Bobcats. From there they went on a 10-3 run to move ahead 39-31 with 2:28 left.
Lincoln coach Lori Cheeney, who had split with White Pine in the regular season plus a loss to the Bobcats in the pre-season, said, “It just wasn’t our day. It had been a defensive game up to the last, then they started making baskets, and neither one of us had scored much before.”
Lincoln only had 21-18 lead at the half, and 26-24 after three quarters.
The Bobcats ended up out-rebounding Lincoln County 44-24 for the game, and outscoring the Lynx 26-15 in the second half.
White Pine’s defense limited Lincoln County to 14 of 60 shooting (23.3 percent) from the field.
Kadi Finicum added nine points and eight rebounds for White Pine, and Britney Kingston had eight points and five boards.
White Pine also won the 2014 girls volleyball Southern Division III championship.
Savannah Harr scored 10 points to lead the Lynx (19-7). Hannah Hafen finished with eight points and five rebounds, and teammate Tanji Tibbits contributed with seven points and five boards for Lincoln County.
At the foul line, White Pine was 11-for-25 (44 percent) and Lincoln was 4-for-11 (36.3 percent).
Cheeney said it was disappointing for the team not to reach their ultimate goal this season, but she does look forward to next season with six girls returning, including Savannah Harr, Easton Tingey, Hannah Hafen, and Krystal Jackson.
The Bobcats (17-3) then went on the win the Southern Division III title with a 48-37 win over Needles.
They will play defending state champion Incline (20-4) this Friday in the state semifinals at Sunrise Mountain High in Las Vegas. Needles (24-6) will play Pershing County (20-8).
