Kristina Lloyd
Senior center Kristal Jackson scored eight points, pulled down eight rebounds and had two blocks in her final regular season game.

The Lincoln County High School varsity girls basketball team lost in a thrilling game at Agassi Prep last Friday. The final score was 69-61

It can’t be easy losing your last game of the regular season, but fortunately for the Lynx, there is more basketball to play. The team heads to the league playoffs this weekend as the third seed and takes on second seed Needles at Durango high school in Las Vegas today at 4:40 p.m.

Against Agassi, Lincoln looked poised to get an upset victory, outscoring the Stars 16-5 in the first quarter.

However, Agassi stormed back and outscored the Lynx by seven in the second period, cutting Lincoln’s lead to four at halftime.

The next period was the decider. Agassi took control of the game, outscoring Lincoln 24-14 and taking a six-point lead. The Lynx weren’t able to top their aggressive offense.

Lincoln kept it close, but was unable to overcome the deficit in the fourth.

Free throw shooting hurt the Lynx. They only made 47 percent of their freebies. The team also struggled from deep, hitting 20 percent from three point land.

Junior guard Brynlee Wadsworth was the star of Lincoln’s team with 19 points, four rebounds, two steals, and five assists. Freshman guard/forward Sadie Soderborg had 12 points and two steals. Senior center Kristal Jackson had eight points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

For Agassi, Sharmayne Finley had 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Destiny Rover had 19 points, four rebounds and two assists.

In today’s playoff matchup, Lincoln (16-9 overall, 12-4 league) gets a third shot at Needles (22-4, 15-1). The Mustangs blew out the Lynx by twenty at Needles in early January and squeaked out a one-point win in Panaca on Feb. 3, which shows that Lincoln can play at this team’s level.

One seed Agassi (18-3, 15-1) takes on four seed Laughlin (12-9, 9-7) in the other first-round game at 8 p.m. tonight, also at Durango High.

The winners of Friday’s games advance to the state tournament next weekend and play in the regional championship tomorrow at 12 p.m.