Basketball: Lincoln boys ice cold in 51-39 loss to Boyle

DANVILLE — Jacob Conway’s 3-point shot attempt in the first minute of the second quarter looked better than the result, which was a miss.

Timmy Taylor had a point-blank shot of his own for Lincoln and Neil Conley put up a trey, and they didn’t fall either.

And it wouldn’t get any better for Lincoln, as Boyle County outscored the Patriots 19-4 in the second quarter and pulled away for a 51-39 win Friday in the nightcap of a 45th District doubleheader at Rebel Arena.

Boyle (13-6, 5-0 district) used defense to complete its sweep of Lincoln (10-13, 2-2) and claim the No. 1 seed in the district, holding the Patriots to just 28 percent shooting from the field.  

“We went undisciplined in the second quarter on both ends of the floor,”¿Lincoln coach Jeff Jackson said. “Our shot selection was quick. Our shot selection was not good. We wanted to push the ball, but you’ve got to push the ball and make good decisions with it – we didn’t make good decisions. We took a lot of ill-advised shots with nobody in rebounding positions.”

Lincoln did not get a shot to fall until just 51.6 seconds remained in the first half. After 10 straight misses and four turnovers, Conway, who had a game-high 15 points, finally nailed his 3-point shot. Lincoln’s only other point in the second, a Brandon Pittman free throw, came with 2:53 to go in the half. 

Jackson said the game changed for Lincoln after senior Luke Hill picked up his second foul and went to the bench to sit out the half.

“When Luke’s not in the game, we’re a little bit different basketball team,” he said. “When we took Luke out of the game, we just kind of went ill-advised.”

Boyle had its own share of misses in the second period, but the Rebels had outscored the Patriots 17-1 during their scoring slump to turn a 14-9 deficit into a 26-15 lead.  

Brett Jones and Josiah Robbins both had five points, including a 3-point shot apiece in the run as the Rebels went on top to stay. Devin True also converted on a 3-point play in the run, Aram Martin drove the baseline for two and Hagan Tyler added a bucket to put Boyle up by 11.

“They hit shots and they wore us out on the offensive glass the second quarter,” Jackson said. 

Boyle, which led 28-18 at the break, saw its lead drop to single digits early in the second half as the Patriots tried to fight their way back. Lincoln sank 4 of 6 free throw attempts, Taylor drove inside for a bucket then Conway scored on a putback to pull the Patriots within 32-26 with 3:07 to play in the third quarter.

Boyle pushed its lead back out to 37-26 off a Chapman Bean 3-pointer and a Martin basket only to have Pittman drive inside for Lincoln to  make it 37-28 going into the fourth quarter.

The margin was at five early in the final frame with Taylor and Hill hitting back-to-back shots for Lincoln for a 37-32 score, but the Rebels answered again, getting seven straight points to extend the lead to 44-32. Micah Miniard and Martin scored four of the seven points with a bucket apiece, True got two free throws and Jones, one. 

The Patriots got only as close as nine points in the final two minutes as the Rebels rolled on for their eighth straight win.

“We just didn’t play well, and they had something to do with that,”¿Jackson said. “They are good defensively and we’re not disciplined to do some things. Our kids have to understand what a good shot is and what a bad shot is. I thought we had some good looks at the basket some times, but we shot 28 percent, 28 percent.”

“And we didn’t hit our free throws. In close games, what we call grinder games, you’ve got to do a lot of things right. And we don’t grind real well yet. We’ve got to find a way to win a grinder game.”

Lincoln hit just 46 percent at the free throw line, going 6-for-13. Boyle was 13-for-21 for 62 percent.

Boyle outrebounded Lincoln 35-30. Pittman had a game-high 11 rebounds for Lincoln and Martin grabbed 10 boards for Boyle.

Boyle shot 45 percent from the field, going 17-for-38, 4-for-12 from 3-point range.

Lincoln was 3-for-23 from 3, 0-for-11 the second half.

The Patriots led throughout the first quarter, jumping on the Rebels 4-0 off buckets by Conway and Hill. Lincoln’s largest lead of the game, 12-6, came with 1:40 left in the first quarter when Taylor hit with a 3-pointer. Jones answered with a Boyle 3-pointer before Conway tallied to end the first with Lincoln up 14-9. 

“We came out ready, but we just didn’t play well from the second quarter on,” Jackson said. “We’ve got to get better, and it looks like we’ve got a lot of work to do between now and the end of the season.”