Patriots hit 16 3-pointers in 69-31 rout over Rebels

By Nancy LeedyLIBERTY — Trenton Edgington and Carl-Lewis Cummins combined for eight 3-pointers as Lincoln County shot its way past Casey County 69-31 Friday night.Lincoln (18-12) made good on 16 of 29 attempts from 3-point range, with six different players stepping behind the arc for triples as the Patriots closed out the regular season. Edgington had four treys for 12 of his game-high 16 points and Cummins tallied all of his 12 points from 3. Jacob Conway also went long for Lincoln, draining three treys for his nine points, Timmy Taylor and Shade Jacobs had two 3s each and Micah Ward, who finished with 11 points, nailed one 3-pointer.While Lincoln’s 16 treys falls way short of the state single-game record of 41 (Jan. 28, 1992, Jackson City vs. Millersburg Military), Lincoln coach Jeff Jackson was impressed by the statistic.“I don’t know if it’s the most for our school but it’s the most I can remember since I’ve been here,” said Jackson. “Coach (Brad) Petrey said we had 16 3s and I said, ‘Yeah, and they were all good shots.’ We didn’t force any shots tonight. We played well.”Lincoln’s 55 percent 3-point shooting would be topped only by its overall effort from the field as the Patriots connected on 56 percent (24-for-43) of their shots.“We shot the ball awful well tonight because we moved the ball awful well,” said Jackson. “I thought we made the extra pass, got in the lane and penetrated and pitched, and everything was in a rhythm and flow of our offense.”Casey County coach Darry Burkett knew his team might struggle against Lincoln but credited the Rebels for their effort.“We held them to 69 points. Hey, Lincoln County’s got a team that’s got a chance to win the region. You hold them to 69 points, with as many turnovers as we had, 19. Hey, our kids can’t play any harder on defense. We’re just very limited offensively,” he said. Casey (3-26) stayed with Lincoln early, with Luke Carman hitting the game-opening basket and Baylen Hill, who led the Rebels with nine points, going inside for a bucket and a 4-3 lead. Luke Hill was the only Patriot to score a goal until the 4:34 mark of the first quarter when Cummins hit for his first 3-pointer to ignite an 18-0 run.Edgington hit back-to-back 3s to end the first and put Lincoln up 12-4. Hill and Ward scored a bucket apiece in the paint before Edgington went deep again then Ward converted on two free throws to open up a 21-4 Patriot lead.Lincoln never trailed again. The Patriots outscored the Rebels 23-10 in the second quarter to post a 35-14 halftime lead then broke on a 16-5 scoring tear in the third to put the game away.“We’re just very limited offensively,” Burkett said. “We made 11 field goals the whole game, and some of them are within five or six feet of the basket. The kids don’t miss them on purpose They’re trying as hard as they can and that’s all I can ask them. We just have to keep working hard to try and get better.”Casey ended the night 11 of 39 (28 percent) from the field. Lincoln led by as many 40 points in the fourth quarter before moving on for the win.“I thought we played well and defended well tonight,” said Jackson. “We had pretty good practices the last couple days and it carried over into the game.”Casey outscored Lincoln at the foul line, converting on 6 of 18 free throw tries while the Patriots were 5 of 10.Lincoln just edged Casey on the boards 26-25, led by Ward with six rebounds. Luke Hill had four for the Patriots. Luke Carman led Casey with seven boards and Leigh had five.“This was a good win and hopefully gives us a little momentum heading into the (district) tournament,” Jackson said. “We moved the ball well and passed it well. Everything we got tonight was in the flow of the offense, and that’s what we’ve been trying to get to.”Lincoln, the 45th District’s top seed, faced Danville Wednesday in the semifinal round of the district tournament at LCHS. Casey opened post-season play at 8 p.m. Tuesday against Somerset in the 47th District Tournament at Rockcastle County.