CHARLESTON — Lincoln’s boys basketball team had no problems finding an offensive rhythm Thursday night.
Once senior guard Spencer Hulse led off Lincoln’s attack with a 3-pointer early in the game, the Wolves never looked back in a 59-40 victory over Lamar in the Class 3A Region 1 Tournament.
Lincoln, which qualified for the Class 3A State Tournament with the win for the second straight year, will play West Fork in the regional semifinals at 5:30 p.m. today.
Leading the Wolves (12-9) on offense was senior forward Dakota Leming, who scored a game-high 16 points while Hulse contributed with 11.
“Our guys were feeling good and playing good (Thursday), they did everything I asked them to do,” Lincoln coach Tim Rich said. “We started out shooting the 3-pointer and it got us rolling.
“We just took off with it and kept playing aggressive defense.”
After leading by 13 points midway through the first half, Lamar (13-13) made a run before halftime by finishing the second quarter on a 14-6 scoring run to cut Lincoln’s lead to 33-28.
But Lamar coach Jerry Miller said his team’s aggressive run took the energy away from his players in the second half, allowing Lincoln to extend its lead.
“We wanted to either guard (Lincoln’s) big players or their guards, and we chose the wrong ones,” Miller said. “We went after their bigs and their guards decided to shoot the ball well.
“You’ve got to choose your poison, and we just chose the wrong one.”
Instead of letting the game stay close in the second half, Lincoln responded in the third quarter by outscoring Lamar 16-6 by getting the ball inside and scoring off fast breaks. During the period, Lamar missed its first eight shots while committing eight turnovers.
The Wolves maintained their lead down the stretch by making six of their 14 foul shots in the second half and outrebounding Lamar 18-9 overall.
“It’s fun to see our players get rewarded for their hard work,” Rich said. “We made the state tournament last year and that was a big deal, but now we want to keep going back every year. This is a great start for our program.”
Class 3A Region 1 Tournament
Boys
LINCOLN 59, LAMAR 40
Lincoln 25 8 16 10 — 59
Lamar 12 10 6 6 — 40
Lincoln (12-9): Leming 16, Hulse 11, Escareno 9, Swayne 8, Vaughn 8, Summers 5, Cruz 2.
Lamar (13-13): Watson 13, Cowell 9, Young 8, Warren 3, Chesser 3, Cook 2, Holland 2.