Basketball: Pirates rally, then fight off rally against Lincoln

GREENLAND -- Zac Wolfe did everything he could to keep Greenland in the game in the first half Friday. After intermission, Wolfe got some help.

The Pirates rallied from an early hole as Wolfe, a 5-foot-11 senior guard, scored 18 of his team's 22 first-half points to spark Greenland to a tie at intermission. After the break, it was Lincoln who fell behind by double digits before a huge rally led to a back-and-forth finish, where key defensive stops in the closing minutes allowed the Pirates to squeeze out a 47-44 win at Greenland Gymnasium.

Boys

Greenland 47, Lincoln 44

Lincoln^13^11^8^12^—^44

Greenland^6^18^14^9^—^47

Lincoln (7-13): Means 14, Suggs 9, Lee 8, Swayne 7, Sugg 6.

Greenland (5-10): Wolfe 26, Watkins 8, Overton 6, Anderson 4, Tincher 3.

Girls

Greenland 40, Lincoln 38

Lincoln^9^9^14^6^—^38

Greenland^8^14^11^7^—^40

Lincoln (3-17): Goldman 15, T. Cunningham 6, Massey 5, Webb 4, Cummings 3, McConnell 3, A. Cunningham 2.

Greenland (14-5): Osburn 20, Wilson 14, Redmond 5, Rogers 1.

"I'm proud of our effort," Greenland boys basketball coach Jared Gobel said. "We got down by about 10 early and battled back and took the lead.

"I can't say enough about Wolfe. He's our leader and when he's making other players better we can do some good things. And we had some other people stepping up tonight."

Greenland (5-10) built a 12-point lead late in the third quarter and still was ahead 40-32 before Lincoln made its charge early in the fourth quarter. The Wolves (7-13) crashed the boards and slowed down Wolfe long enough to reel off a 9-0 run for a brief 41-40 lead.

Then came the final few minutes where both teams had chances to take control. But on Lincoln's end, a pair of chances to take the lead instead ended up in turnovers as Greenland built the lead back up to 46-41 with less than 30 seconds to play.

"We had a couple plays there where we tried to thread the needle," Lincoln coach Tim Rich said. "A couple that we want back, but really like the way we fought back and it just came down to one or two plays."

After a late Lincoln 3-pointer with 18.2 seconds cut the deficit to 46-44, Wolfe hit one of two free throws for a 47-44 lead. The Wolves had two looks at a game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds, but both attempts fell short.

"We're playing six or seven kids that didn't play a minute of varsity last year," Gobel said. "Early in the year I told them we're going to learn some things. But in that second half of the season we've got to build on it and keep improving and hopefully we can do some good things."

Wolfe finished with 26 points for Greenland and Cutter Watkins added eight. Bryce Means led Lincoln with 14.

The Pirates host Pea Ridge on Tuesday, and Lincoln is at Shiloh Christian on Tuesday.

Girls

Greenland 40, Lincoln 38

The Lady Pirates (14-5) gave up a fourth quarter lead in the closing minutes, then used a furious rally of their own to pull out the two-point victory on Friday.

Fiona Wilson hit two free throws with 20.9 seconds left to break and 38-38 tie and Greenland locked down on defense in the final few possessions for the victory.

Lincoln (3-17) had a good look for the tie, but a final attempt fell just off the rim allowing Greenland to hold on.

Sports on 01/21/2017

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