Defensive Lincoln County takes league crown

Calvary Chapel’s girls basketball team has three solid offensive weapons and can be awfully tough to defend.

Opponents would do well to borrow Lincoln County’s game tape from Saturday.

The Lynx put on a defensive clinic en route to a 37-28 win over the Lions in the Division III Southern League final at Sunrise Mountain. Both teams advance to the state tournament, which begins Friday at Orleans Arena.

“We’ve just have really quick players, and our defense has been our strength all along,” Lincoln County coach Lori Cheeney said. “We’ve been working on not reaching and staying out of foul trouble so we can be aggressive on defense, and today it worked.”

The Lynx (17-11) held Lions offensive threats Chloe Hammond, Lianne Reyes and Phallen Nelson — each of whom is capable of having a huge game — to a total of 23 points. Hammond and Reyes each scored eight.

“We knew those girls’ tendencies, and we tried to take advantage of that,” Cheeney said.

The Lions (23-4) made just 1 of 18 shots from the field in the first 14:30 of the second half.

“We just did not play our game. I wish I knew why,” Calvary Chapel coach Kelli Miller said. “We beat ourselves.”

Kourtney Gloeckner led the Lynx with 12 points. Elle Scott added nine points for Lincoln County, which won the Class 2A Southern League title last year.

Contact reporter Bartt Davis at bdavis@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-5230.