Escareno Ignites Lincoln Victory

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

— Lincoln mostly struggled in the first half against Prairie Grove until Ossy Escareno made a 3-pointer to give the Wolves a halftime lead.

That was the spark Lincoln needed as the Wolves completed a 48-29 victory over Prairie Grove Tuesday in 4A-1 Conference play at the Wolves’ gym. Escareno finished with 18 points for Lincoln, which trailed 14-10 after one quarter.

“That was huge for us when Ossy stepped up and hit that,” Lincoln coach Tim Rich said of Escareno’s 3-pointer to end the first half. “We weren’t shooting real well until then. He hit than shot and we came out with a different attitude in the second half.”

Escareno had nine of his 18 points in the second quarter to put Lincoln ahead 21-18 at halftime.

Prairie Grove got off to a good start and led 14-10 after one quarter. But the Tigers were held to only four points in the third and fourth quarters. Winters and Speed made the only baskets for Prairie Grove in the third quarter after the Tigers were held to a lone field goal by Jacob Storlie in the second period.

Doughty finished with nine points to lead Prairie Grove (1-7, 0-3), which fell behind 35-22 after three quarters.

“We’ve been harping on our defense and working on it,” Rich said. “I thought our guys moved well as a team and did their assignments.”

Shandon Goldman made both of his 3-pointers in the third quarter for Lincoln (5-6, 2-1), which outscored the Tigers 14-4 in the period.

LINCOLN 48, PRAIRIE GROVE 29

Prairie Grove 14 4 4 7 — 29

Lincoln 10 11 14 13 — 48

PRAIRIE GROVE (1-7, 0-3): Doughty 9, Storlie 5, Tice 5, Winters 5, Speed 2, Halbert 3.

LINCOLN (5-6, 2-1): Escareno 18, Barnum 15, Hulse 2, McConnell 5, Simmons 2, Goldman 6.

GIRLS

PRAIRIE GROVE 39, LINCOLN 37

Prairie Grove outscored Lincoln 16-0 in the third quarter and won the game on a layup by junior Abby Smith with three seconds remaining in the game.

The victory completed an impressive comeback for Prairie Grove (8-3, 3-0), which did not make a field goal in the second quarter and trailed 19-7 at halftime.

“I was more aggravated at halftime about our defense,” Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud said. “I know they weren’t trying to miss those layups on purpose, but I was more concerned that we were letting them go around us and not getting rebounds. We came out in the second half with more intensity and we started making shots.”

Prairie Grove’s winning possession began with the game tied 37-37 and with 22 seconds left on the clock. Lincoln’s defense forced the Lady Tigers outside, but Smith broke free and made a banked in a layup with three seconds left for the victory.

Justyn Huber scored 18 points and Whitnee Fitts added nine points, all on 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, to lead Prairie Grove. Fitts’ final three gave the Lady Tigers a 37-34 lead with just over a minute to play.

“Whitnee hit three big 3s in the fourth quarter and Justyn was about all we had in the first half,” Froud said.

Lincoln (9-3, 2-10 dominated play in the first half behind guard Shelby Rowe, who finished with 16 points. Rowe had eight points in the first quarter to give the Lady Wolves a 12-5 lead.

Huber made two free throws for Prairie Grove’s only points in the second quarter.

PRAIRIE GROVE 39, LINCOLN 37

Prairie Grove 5 2 16 16 — 39

Lincoln 12 7 0 18 — 37

Prairie Grove (8-3, 3-0): Smith 4, Fitts 9, Kultgen 8, Huber 18.

Lincoln (9-3, 2-1): Rowe 16, Sugg 7, Rich 7,Thordsen 2, Neely 3, Lloyd 2.