Big 3rd quarter lifts Paulding past L’view

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

It appeared Lincolnview had momentum and was ready to seize control against visiting Paulding Friday night.

Ethan Kemler scored the final six points of the first half to give the Lancers a 30-23 halftime lead, then Lincolnview extended the lead to 36-25 on back to back treys by Alek Bowersock and Zane Miller early in the third quarter.

However, Paulding (9-9, 4-3 NWC) exploded for 30 points in the period and turned an 11 point deficit into an 11 point advantage and the Panthers went on to enjoy a 66-52 win.

Carson Shull started a 15-0 run with a triple, then Blake McGarvey scored consecutive baskets off steals and another bucket by Shull tied the game 38-38 with 4:20 left in the period. A trey from the top of the key by Jaret Miller put the Panthers ahead for good, 41-38, then Shull scored again off another Lancer turnover to cap the run.

Lincolnview (10-9, 5-3 NWC) used two buckets by Creed Jessee to pull within one, 43-42 with 2:18 left in the quarter, but Paulding scored the final 10 points of the period to lead 53-42 entering the fourth quarter, with Shull accounting for seven of those points.

“We chose not to run our offense,” Lincolnview head coach Brett Hammons said of the third quarter. “This was our bad quarter and that’s been our problem every game – we always have one bad quarter and unfortunately it was the third quarter.”

“I told the guys we can’t have nine turnovers in a quarter and get outscored 30-12 and expect to win a basketball game,” Hammons added.

“We said we wanted to get away from a halfcourt game at halftime because Lincolnview is really solid in it,” Paulding head coach Brian Miller said. “We went to a press and a 2-3 zone to keep them from going high low on us.”

“I thought the press made then tentative and we got our hands on a lot of passes and turned the game around.”

A trey by Alek Bowersock pulled the Lancers to within eight, 55-47 with 4:25 left in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as Lincolnview would get as Paulding would outscore the hosts 11-5 the rest of the way.

“We knew they were good,” Hammons said of the Panthers. “They have three very good players that can shoot it and attack and they gave us some problems in the second half, but I thought we contested their shooters. They just made shots and we didn’t in the third and fourth quarters.”

Paulding finished the game 24 of 43 (56 percent) from the floor, including 11 of 18 (61 percent) from three point range, while Lincolnview was 21 of 55 (38 percent) from the floor and 5 of 15 (33 percent) from beyond the arc. The Lancers enjoyed a 34-22 rebounding advantage, but had 17 turnovers compared to nine for Paulding.

Shull led all scorers with 32 points, while Fletcher Cook had 16 and Miller 11.

“Carson is a great kid and has been playing with a lot of confidence the last few weeks,” Miller said. “He can really shoot it and tonight the guys found him.”

Alek Bowersock led Lincolnview with 12 points and Kemler and Miller each chipped in with eight.

The Lancers will play at Arlington tonight ( 5 p.m. JV start) while Paulding will play at Bryan.

Scoring summary

Lincolnview 14 16 12 10 – 52
Paulding 17 6 30 13 – 66

Lincolnview: Jorge Salinas 1-3-5; Logan Williams 3-0-7; Ethan Kemler 4-0-8; Alek Bowersock 5-0-12; Jake Bowersock 2-2-6; Creed Jessee 3-0-6; Zane Miller 3-0-8

Paulding: Blake McGarvey 2-0-5; Carson Shull 13-1-32; Jacob Eblin 1-0-2; Jaret Miller 2-5-11; Fletcher Cook 6-1-16
JV: Paulding 43-40