[Stardust]

BOWLING GREEN - Emily Fox is used to coming up big for Lincoln County. And the junior came up huge when the Patriots needed it most Friday.

Fox scored 10 of her game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter and keyed the decisive run to help Lincoln pull away from Magoffin County 72-59 in the Girls Sweet Sixteen quarterfinals to earn a berth in Saturday’s final four.

“I knew that I had to step up and be a leader and get the ball to the open people and penetrate whenever it’s open,“ said Fox, who also had five rebounds eight assists, two turnovers and two steals. “We knew they only played six, so we just had to pass the ball and wear them down.

“We’re the first team to go to the final four, so it feels pretty good.”

Sydney Harris had 14 points and nine rebounds and Ciara Saylor added 11 points and four steals as Lincoln improved to 26-9.

“What another ballgame. This is what the state tournament is about,” Lincoln coach Cassandra McWhorter said. “I’m proud of the girls. I challenged them, and I told them nobody remembers the elite eight, but everyone remembers the final four.”

It took a while for Lincoln to secure that first trip to the semifinals.

Clinging to a 45-44 lead in the fourth quarter, the Patriots went on a 13-2 run, with Fox scoring nine points, to lead 58-46 with 3:38 to go. Lincoln led 49-46 when Fox was fouled on a layup. She missed the free throw, but the Hornets lost the rebound out of bounds.

Fox made them pay by burying a 3-pointer form the right corner to make it 54-46 with 4:22 to play. Fox started the run with a driving layup from the top of the key, and Sydney Harris ended it on an inbounds layup.

“This is a marathon, not a sprint. We have to make it a full game,” McWhorter said. “Our depth has helped us tremendously. I knew they only play five or six players, and I think that got to them in the fourth quarter.”

While Lincoln was able to make its run in the fourth quarter, the Hornets chances were hurt when Madison Castle rolled her ankle after her shot was blocked by Spangler with 3:17 left in the third quarter and Lincoln leading 40-36. Castle came back, but was ineffective and did not score again, finishing with 18 points.

“I think that did hurt them, she was their best player,” Harris said.

Two free throws from Madison Reed made it 58-50 with 258 left, but the Hornets would not get closer than six the rest of the way on two free throws from Morgan Arnett to cut the lead to 64-58.

From there, Lincoln closed out on an 8-1 run.

The Patriots raced out to a 14-4 lead early, and led 18-11 after a quarter before the Hornets came back to make a game of it.

Leading 24-15 after Tiandra Hocker’s layup, Magoffin went on a 7-0 run, capped by a three-point play from Reed to cut the lead to 24-22 with 4:30 left in the first half.

A free throw from Fox made it 25-22, but the Hornets got a drive from Jasmine Howard and steal and layup from Castle to take a 26-25 lead with 3:46 left in the first half. But Lincoln retook the lead at 28-26 on Fox’s 3-pointer from the right corner. with 2:35 to go. Chansler Gilbert nailed another trey with 19 second left which gave Lincoln a 33-29 halftime lead.

Lincoln shot 54 percent in the second half (15 of 28), and finished the game 28 of 55. The Patriots made five of 11 3-pointers, but just 11 of 24 free throws.

Magoffin (29-5) finished 19 of 44 shooting and hit 21 of 25 at the line. Jasmine Howard scored 21 for the Hornets.
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