[Stardust]

BOWLING GREEN — It was going to take a monumental effort on Lincoln County’s part to take down powerful Marion County in the Girls Sweet Sixteen semifinals.

And the Patriots were up for the challenge for a while Saturday, but Marion’s talent took over in the second half as the Knights handed Lincoln a 61-40 loss at E.A. Diddle Arena, ending the Patriots’ terrific state tournament run.

“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 said. “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 for Lincoln (26-10), including 10 points in the final 2 minutes, 5 seconds. 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 for the Patriots, whose quarterfinal win Friday night over Magoffin County made them only the second local girls team to reach the state semifinals.

Marion (34-4) has been ranked No. 1 or 2 in the state all season and had beaten Lincoln 63-35 earlier this season, and the Knights put this game away at the start of the second half for another easy win that sent them into Saturday night’s state championship game against duPont Manual.

Up 27-19 at halftime, Marion opened the third quarter by forcing two quick turnovers to key a 14-2 run to lead 41-21 with 4:38 left. The Knights then closed out the third period on a 9-2 run and led 50-25 heading to the fourth.

“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 turn 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 giants out there with their arms. Their length creates a lot of problems out there.”

Lincoln shot just 29 percent (15 for 51) from the field, going 3 for 17 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 21 times.

Marion shot just 32 percent (19 for 60) but made 21 of 26 free throws and outrebounded Lincoln 44-36 with 17 offensive rebounds.

“We started out a little sluggish, but we came out after halftime and really played an 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 1:40 to go.

With the scored tied 13-all after one quarter, Marion opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run and never looked back.

Makayla Epps, who had 10 of her 12 points 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 give the Knights 19-13 with 6:28 left in the first half.

Lincoln came right back, as Fox hit two free throws and scored inside after Spangler’s offensive rebound to trim the led to 19-17 with 4:50 left in the half.

After buckets from Goodin-Rogers and a 3-pointer from Haeli Howard, Marion missed seven straight shots before Goodin-Rogers’ three-point play with 2.1 seconds to go gave the Knights a 27-19 halftime lead.

Bre Elder, who was saddled with foul trouble for most of the first half, led the Knights with 16 points, Goodin-Rogers had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Logan Powell had 10 rebounds.

MARION COUNTY 61, LINCOLN COUNTY 40
Girls Sweet Sixteen
At Bowling Green
Semifinal

LINCOLN COUNTY (26-10)
Sydney Harris 3-8 0-2 6, Kourtney Belcher 4-5 2-2 10, Ciara Saylor 0-3 0-0 0, Emily Fox 6-19 4-4 19, Rachel Spangler 0-2 0-0 0, Heidi Huffman 0-4 0-0 0, Kelsi Honaker 0-0 0-0 0, Cristin Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Caitlin Hall 0-1 0-0 0, Spencer Sims 0-0 0-0 0, Chansler Gilbert 0-4 1-2 1, Tiandra Hocker 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 15-51 7-10 40.
MARION COUNTY (34-4)
Logan Powell 2-6 1-2 5, Kyvin Goodin-Rogers 4-13 3-5 11, Patrice Tonge 1-2 2-2 4, Bre Elder 4-9 8-8 16, Makayla Epps 5-13 1-1 12, Ambrasia Adams 0-1 3-4 3, Jordan Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, Haeli Howard 1-5 0-0 3, Coco May 0-1 0-0 0, Timera Burton 0-0 0-0 0, Alexus Calhoun 2-7 3-4 7, Colleen Rakes 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Bridgewater 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Fenwick 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-60 21-26 61.
Lincoln County 13 19 25 40
Magoffin County 13 27 50 61
3-Point Goals—Lincoln 3-17 (Fox 3-9, Gilbert 0-2, Huffman 0-3, Saylor 0-3), Marion 2-12 (Epps 1-5, Howard 1-3, May 0-1, Goodin-Rogers 0-2, Elder 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Lincoln 36 (Spangler 8), Marion 44 (Powell 11). Assists—Lincoln 10 (Harris, Saylor, Fox 2), Marion 8 (Elder 4). Total Fouls—Lincoln 15, Marion 10. A—3,623.
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