By Henry O’Brien
SHINNSTON, W. Va. — Lincoln coach Jordan Toth said he thinks his players were sick of hearing the name “Moorefield.” After three weeks where they played 10 games, the Cougars had a week off before facing the Yellow Jackets. All they could think about was Moorefield.
The break gave No. 3 Lincoln (11-12) enough time to efficiently move past the No. 6 Yellow Jackets (8-14) in a 64-53 win at home on Friday night. The Cougars will take on No. 2 Frankfort on March 12 for the right to go to the WVSSAC Class AA state tournament.
“We played very confident, we moved the ball very well, we took advantage of matchups,” Toth said. “…We shot the ball very well. We were very unselfish, just like we have been all year.”
Cole Vincent scored Lincoln’s first nine points, all coming from beyond the arc. Vincent’s triples came on set plays, where the Cougars used off-ball screens and forced defensive switches to create size mismatches. Vincent finished with a game-high 26 points.
“Cole’s a very, very confident basketball player,” Toth said. “That’s really what makes him really good. He doesn’t get rattled.”
After a 3-pointer from Luke Joyce put Lincoln up 15-9 with 1:15 in the opening period, the Cougars appeared in control, right before they saw some heroics from one of their starting guards.
Following a layup from Moorefield’s Shawn Reed with four seconds to go in the quarter, Lincoln ran a play that saw the ball get to Brody Barnes’ hands at the school’s cursive logo. Barnes chucked up a buzzer-beating shot and swished it, celebrating with a Jalen Brunson-esque move by putting his hand over his mouth.
Lincoln was now up nine after one and never came close to trailing for the rest of the night.
The Cougars maintained a healthy lead throughout the game, with it usually hovering between seven and 10 points. This included the fourth quarter, when Yellow Jacket Cyrus Kump recorded an and-one with 5:09 to go to put his side only down seven.
Plays like that can spark a comeback. That is, if the other team doesn’t have a player named Cole Vincent who immediately responded with an and-one of his own that sparked a minute-long run that closed the game out. Following Vincent’s 3-point play, the sophomore guard buried his fourth 3-pointer of the night, which came off a steal from AJ Bart.
On the next Moorefield possession, Joyce recorded a steal before the Cougars passed the ball around, resulting in a top-of-the-key 3 from Max Myers. The Yellow Jackets called a timeout, the Lincoln student section went hysterical and Joyce excitedly pushed Myers as they walked back to the bench, as a win was now within their grasp.
After standing at 3-8 at the start of February, the Cougars have been 8-4 since then, taking advantage of Class AA competition after spending much of the regular season facing Class AAA teams in the Big 10.
Toth said the players “bought into the schedule,” understanding that while there will be double-digit losses to superior competition, it’ll improve the end product at the most important time of the season.
“I think it does if your guys embrace it,” Toth said of the schedule. “You still may be losing, you may have played Bridgeport, wire to wire…It’s just honest conversations with your team, and as long as they’re able to handle that, and see there’s light at the end of the tunnel when we get to the regional, that ‘Hey, we’re just as good as any of those guys.’”
