CHARLESTON — Lincoln girls basketball coach Deon Birkes is a firm believer that Wednesday night was only the beginning for his program.
Despite the Lady Wolves overcoming a 16-point defi cit in the second half, Lincoln couldn’t make the necessary plays down the stretch in a 41-33 loss against Charleston in the first round of the Class 3A Region 1 Tournament.
Birkes said his young and inexperienced players did plenty of growing up throughout the game, gaining experience they’ll be able to use in the future.
“It’s a tough way to end the season because we were right there,” said Birkes, whose team ends its season at 7-16. “But this isn’t the last you’ll see of Lincoln. We’re going to be back next season and we’re not going to be playing for third or fourth place.”
After trailing by as many as 16 points midway through the second quarter, the Lady Wolves went on a rampage, getting the ball inside the lane for easy layups.
Lincoln ended the first half on a 10-4 scoring run before outscoring Charleston 10-4 in the third quarter, eventually cutting the Lady Tigers lead to only one point with 3 minutes, 36 seconds left in the game.
The Lady Wolves were led by Nicole Thordsen and Haley Summers, who combined for 27 points.
Charleston coach Jason Rucker said Lincoln’s rally in the second half was a result of the Lady Wolves being more aggressive on defense, pressuring Charleston’s outside shooters.
“We could have easily folded when (Lincoln) started to make the run,” Rucker said. “We held it together just enough to move on. They pounded it inside a lot and then extended our guards outside, which sped up our game. It took us out of our rhythm.”
Charleston (24-8) was led by Katherine West with 20 points.
Sports, Pages 9 on 02/24/2011