Savannah Harr came up clutch, and the Lincoln County High School girls basketball team showed they can stay poised, even in a tight game.
The girls erased a five-point halftime deficit and held on to beat White Pine 37-36 on Tuesday.
“I told them to keep their heads, to not panic because we were down,” said Lincoln coach Ken Thornock. He added that they didn’t play very well offensively, but stayed in the ballgame with solid defense. “Everything we worked on to stop White Pine on the inside worked really well,” he said. “I wanted to continue working with that to make sure it was set. The girls did an outstanding job of working on that stuff on White Pine.”
The Lady Lynx were down by one with just 20 seconds on the clock. Then Brynlee Wadsworth knocked the ball away from White Pine. Savannah Harr picked it up and called a timeout.
The coach drew up a play for Harr. “We got Savannah the ball, and told them we wanted to set a screen for her high so she could drive to the lane and get an easy bucket.”
The play was well-executed. Harr drew a foul and stepped to the line for a 1-and-1. She made both free throws, giving the Lynx a one point lead with 12.8 seconds left.
As White Pine looked to retake the lead, Kailey Kelly stole the ball, and was fouled with 2.7 seconds remaining. She missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but the clock ran out before White Pine could try for another shot.
“It was a tough game,” Thornock said. “We were off offensively, but I was really pleased with the defense.”
Harr finished with 12 points, six steals, three rebounds and three assists. Kristal Jackson had eight points, seven rebounds, two steals and a block. Hannah Hafen pulled down 11 rebounds and scored five points.
Last Friday, the girls defeated Agassi Prep in Las Vegas, 58-47. “They were very physical against us,” Thornock said. “They came out with a really tough man-to-man.” Agassi pulled to within three in the third quarter, but the Lady Lynx were able to pull away in the fourth.
“It was a great team effort, in terms of being able to play and handling the ball, handling the pressure,” Thornock added. “We won in an environment that’s hard; they were a very physical team.”
Harr led the way with 19 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal. Hafen had 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Lincoln now stands alone in first place in the Division III Southern League, with an 8-0 league record, and is 16-2 overall. They play at Lake Mead (1-13, 0-9) this afternoon at 4:30 and face Mountain View (2-12, 2-7) in Las Vegas tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.
