Defense and mathematics proved the down fall for number one seed Lincoln against number 2 seed Sacred Heart in a 38-35 loss on Saturday evening in the finals of the annual Kaysinger Conference Tournament.
Ironically, Lincoln stood in the corridor and watched number two seed Northwest, with only six girls, knock off top seed Stover, 41-31 in the girls championship prior to their contest.
Being ahead in the fourth quarter allowed the Gremlins the luxury of playing for the high percentage layup while Lincoln, being behind, would shoot the low percentage shot from the corner which failed to connect.
Lincoln had two 3- pointers in the first half, one by Cam Everhart and one by Chance Koll, and none in the second half.
The Sacred Heart defense also doubled down on Lincoln's Ben Eckhoff in the paint and hold the big center to just one field goal and two late critical free throws.
Lincoln led 12-11 after one and 20-19 at the half but trailed 30-27 after three.
The archrival Gremlins led 34-27 early in the fourth and went into their delay offensive schemes. Lincoln closed the gap at 34-33 but were forced to foul four times to put Sacred Heart in the bonus.
Conner Brown made an unconventional three point play with 29 seconds left. The Cardinals' Riley Sanders hit Bradyn Benham for an out-of-bounds layup but
Max Van Leer, who had 12 of his game high 17 points in the first half, hit a free throw with nine seconds that forced Sanders to throw up a wild three to send it into overtime that missed the mark.
Lincoln fell to 16-3 on their 2024-25 campaign.
LINCOLN (35): Sanders, 7; Benham, 6; Koll, 9; Everhart, 5; Benham, 4; Parrott, 4.
SACRED HEART (38): Van Leer, 17; Brown, 13; Condray, 3; Cordia, 2; Goodwin, 3.
On Tuesday night, the top seeded Lincoln Cardinals defeated fourth seeded Windsor 62-46 in the semi-final matchup in the Kaysinger Conference Tournament in Sedalia on the campus of State Fair Community College.
Lincoln led all the way, jumping out to a 13-3 lead and led 23-14 after the first quarter of play. It was 36-23 at the half, thanks to a questionable Riley Sanders three at the buzzer.
Rowan Cox, who was basically unstoppable hitting some difficult shots, had 12 of Windsor's 23 first half points, went down with an injury in the second quarter.
Lincoln's lead was established by hitting the open man under the basket for a layup time and time again. Cards senior Cam Everhart was inserted into the starting role in place of Braydn Benham who sat out due to sickness. Everhart had several assists.
As always, Lincoln junior center, Ben Eckhoff, who is now taking the ball to the hoop more, was a big distraction for the opposing team.
Sanders had a fourth quarter dunk to go with his game high 21 points for the Cardinals.
LINCOLN (62): Sanders, 21; Cole, 9; Parrott, 4; Everhart, 2; Koll, 8; Harms, 2; Eckhoff, 16.
WINDSOR (46): Cox, 12; Buckhart, 2; R. Millington, 2; R. Millington, 16; Henry, 6; Barnes, 8.
The week earlier, in the 8:30 PM game on Saturday night at State Fair, Lincoln defeated Stover, 52-27 in first round action. Stover had beaten Cole Camp 45-43 in a playoff game to earn the right to test the Cardinals, who they played tough a week and a half before at Lincoln.
It was 9-9 after one before Lincoln pulled ahead 20-12 at the half behind their solid man-to-man defense.
Ben Eckhoff was a difference maker for Lincoln with his presence inside rebounding and altering shots.
Lincoln led 37-21 after three and Lincoln Coach Tyler Burke emptied his deep bench in the fourth. Both teams committed 12 turnovers, something Lincoln needs to improve on to have continued success in the coming weeks.
LINCOLN (52): Sanders, 11; Cole, 3; Eckhoff, 9; Koll, 6; Benham, 12; Harms, 2; Parrott, 9.
STOVER (27): Broderson, 3; Simon, 5; Karstens, 13; Welpman, 2; Hollingsworth, 7.
