[Stardust]

BOWLING¿GREEN — It was going to take a monumental effort on Lincoln County’s part to take down powerful Marion County in Saturday’s Sweet Sixteen semifinals.
And the Patriots were up for challenge for a half, but Marion’s talent took over in the second as the Knights handed Lincoln a 61-40 loss at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, ending the Patriots’ terrific state tournament run.
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Basketball
“It’s sad to see us not come out with the win, but I’m very proud of the young ladies that I get to coach and call family,”¿Lincoln coach Cassandra McWhorter. “They left everything on the floor this weekend, and I’m proud to be their coach. And I know Lincoln County is proud of these girls.
“They have nothing to hang their heads about. I’m proud of their effort and commitment.”
Emily Fox scored a game-high 19 points, getting 10 points in the final 2:05. She also had five rebounds, two assists and three steals with seven turnovers. Kourtney Belcher had 10 points and two boards and Sydney Harris had seven points and six rebounds.
Marion beat Lincoln 63-35 earlier this season, and the Knights put the game away for another easy win to start the second half.
Up 27-19 at the half, Marion opened the third quarter by forcing two quick turnovers to key a 14-2 run to lead 41-21 with 4:38 left in the third. The Knights then closed out the third quarter on a 9-2 run and led 50-25 heading to the fourth quarter.
“We knew they would do that, and we knew we’d be in trouble because we didn’t have Rachel (Spangler) to help get the ball up court,”¿Fox said. “But we tried to get through.”
Spangler, who failed to score but had eight rebounds, was lost for the game with 2:37 left in the first half when she turned her ankle on a rebound.
“She’s a very tough player, it’s unfortunate when she goes down like that,”¿McWhorter said. “And she feels bad, like she let the team down, but if we don’t have her, we’re not here.”
The Lincoln coach knew Marion would up the pressure in the third quarter, but there was little the Patriots could do about it.
“They just kind of grind it out and they did a good job of stepping up and getting steals,”¿McWhorter said. “And when you can’t put the ball in the hole, it makes it difficult for any time. We were not able to like last night and it made the girls discouraged.
“Marion County is just a good team and they took advantage of that. Their length, they’re like gians out there with their arms. Their length creates a lot of problems out there.”
Lincoln shot just 29 percent for the game on 15 of 51 from the floor, going 3 of 17 from 3-point range, and turning the ball over 21 times.
Marion only shot 32 percent (19 of 60), but made 21 of 26 free throws, and outrebounded Lincoln 44-36.
“We started out a little sluggish, but we came out after halftime and really played and excellent third quarter,”¿Marion coach Trent Milby said. “We started pounding the ball inside and that led to some easy baskets. And when we can do that, we can push the pace. And you could see Lincoln County was rushing their shots and that played right into our hands.”
Alexus Calhoun’s layup gave Marion a 56-26 lead with 4:52 to play, and Lincoln never got any closer than 21 on Fox’s 3-pointer with 1 minutes, 40 seconds to go.
With the scored tied 13-all after a quarter, Marion opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run and never looked back.
Makayla Epps, who had 10 of her 12 in the first half, knifed through the middle for a layup, Kyvin Goodin-Rogers hit two free throws and Epps scored on a fastbreak layup to make it 19-13 with 6:28 left in the half.
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