Lincoln County advances to school's first Sweet 16 semifinal appearance
Lincoln County was able to advance to the Sweet 16 quarterfinals on Wednesday on the backs of the team’s defense against Jeffersontown. On Friday morning, the Patriots’ elite defense once again has them moving on in the state tournament.
No. 9 Lincoln County (30-7) secured a 56-46 win over the North Oldham Mustangs (19-12) during Friday’s opening quarterfinal matchup at the UK Healthcare Boy’s Sweet 16 Tournament. The Patriots held North Oldham to a mere 38.8 percent shooting and a rough 2-15 mark from beyond the arc, just 48 hours after holding Jeffersontown to 41 points on 28.3 percent shooting.
As a result, the Patriots became the first school to secure a spot in Saturday’s semifinals, where they’ll take on the winner of No. 1 George Rogers Clark and No. 8 Pikeville at 11:00 AM. This is Lincoln County’s first semifinal appearance in school history.
“Just the poise that they have in their school, not just on the floor but in the classroom and in our school community, it’s pretty special,” Lincoln County head coach Jeff Jackson said of his team postgame. “We have great leadership and it’s been fun watching them and I hope we get to continue doing it a little bit longer.”
Lincoln County was powered by a trio of double-digit scorers: junior guard Tramane Alcorn (15 points), senior guard Jaxon Smith (11), and junior guard Colton Ralston (10). As a team, the Patriots shot 46 percent from the floor and an efficient 9-18 from beyond the arc.
Lincoln County was able to hold North Oldham’s leading scorer, point guard Dallas Roberts, to just four points on 1-11 shooting. North Oldham junior forward Ian Higdon led all scorers with 20 points and 10 rebounds on 8-13 shooting. Junior guard Jack Scales wasn’t too far behind, finishing with 12 points for the Mustangs.
North Oldham would strike first, taking a quick 8-3 lead with an emphasis on feeding Higdon in the paint. After a 1-9 showing from Higdon on Wednesday, he was locked in for the second go-around. But Lincoln County would finally settle in and hit right back. By the end of the first frame, North Oldham held a slight 12-11 lead.
That was as close as the Mustangs would keep the score. From then on, Lincoln County began to knock down shots from deep as the defense leveled up. An 18-6 second-quarter run from the Patriots blew the game wide open as Lincoln County held a commanding 29-18 lead at the break. LC shot over 57 percent in the opening half while holding North Oldham to just 36.8 percent.
Lincoln County would then win the third quarter 15-10 before cruising to the 56-46 victory. Despite the size disadvantage, the Patriots won the battle on the boards, 29-25, which was a major point of focus for Coach Jackson coming into the contest.
“It was the number one key we felt going into the game that we had to neutralize them on the glass as much as we can,” Coach Jackson said. “They’re a very good offensive rebounding team and I thought we did a really good job checking them out a little bit farther out on the floor and our kids battled with them inside. It was the number one key we felt going into the game is rebounding.”
North Oldham showed moments of life throughout the second half, preventing Lincoln County from running away with a 20-plus point advantage. The Mustangs fullcourt pressure bothered the Patriots at times, but it was never enough to knock them off their rhythm. North Oldham exits the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16 with a quarterfinal appearance and expects to return all seven of the team’s top rotational players next season.
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