Kristina Lloyd
Lincoln senior Elijah Harr takes it to the hoop against Democracy Prep last Friday.
By Marinda Lamb
The Lincoln County High School boys basketball team played its final games of the season last weekend.
The team fell to league undefeated Democracy Prep on Friday, 75-39, and finished the year on a high note the next day against Laughlin on Saturday, 63-39.
Democracy showed why they are the top team in the 2A Southern League, starting off scoring and forcing turnovers. They were already quite a few points ahead before Lincoln senior Landen Smith made a deep jump shot. Shortly after, junior Kobe Walker stole the ball and handed it off to senior Elijah Harr who made a three pointer. Towards the end of the quarter, Walker hit a three. Despite the good plays the Lynx were making, the gap was too large, with Democracy up 21-8 at the end of the first quarter, 47-22 lead at the half, and cruising from there.
“We had a plan for them, but it just didn’t work after the first quarter,” said Lincoln coach Sean FitzSimons.
Against Laughlin, which has not won a game this year, The Lynx took control quickly. Laughlin scored only two points in the first quarter to Lincoln’s 16.
The Cougars put up more of a fight in the second quarter, with the Lynx trying to find an offensive rhythm early in the period. Smith assisted Harr on a bucket to start the Lynx scoring again. Freshman Kobe Kelley came off the bench to get a steal, which turned into some points from Walker, and the Lynx led 26-14 at halftime.
Lincoln stretched the lead to 44-28 at the end of the third, and the fourth quarter was a great way for the Lynx to end their season. Junior Alex Vincent started it out with a drive for a layup. Smith drained a three, his first all season. And junior Kamdon Lewis put down a dunk. Harr finished with 13 points and Smith had 11.
FitzSimons said, “We were happy with the win on Saturday. It’s always nice to get a win your last game of the season. I was proud of the kids for all of the hard work and the success this year.”
He added, “We’re definitely gonna miss the seniors, but we feel we have some underclassmen coming back to hopefully build the program and give us some more success and to keep improving each year after that. I was very proud of the boys they played extremely hard this year. There was never a game where they quit. I appreciate all the support from the school, family, community, and friends. Hopefully next year we’ll have a better year.”
The Lynx ended their season 8-18 overall and 7-9 in league play.
