WEST FORK -- Lincoln had already made four 3-pointers in the first quarter before Charleston coach Jason Rucker made one change that turned the tide.
After playing man-to-man defense for most of the first quarter, Rucker had his team switch to a zone heading into the second quarter. The move was huge in the Lady Tigers' 57-32 win in the championship game of the 3A-1 West Conference tournament Saturday.
"They were hurting us in the first quarter with penetration and kicking, so we went to the zone and stopped the penetration," Rucker said.
Charleston, the defending Class 3A state champions, would keep Lincoln scoreless the whole second quarter and only gave up three field goals the rest of the game. The Wolves missed every 3-pointer after the first quarter.
Defense might have been the difference in the game but it was Allie Green who turned in a feature-worthy performance on offense for the Tigers.
Green poured in a game-high 19 points as the lone senior for Charleston led the Tigers' third-quarter push that sealed the win. She shot an impressive 3-of-4 from behind the arc while also grabbing two steals in the win.
"I wished we had Allie every year," Rucker said. "She's an unbelievable player, but more importantly, she's an unbelievable kid. She sets the tone for us every day with her attitude."
Lincoln, which bumped from 4A down to 3A this season, looked like it would contend with Charleston in the teams' third matchup of the season after heading into the second quarter up by three points. The lead would be short-lived though as Lincoln went the next 10 minutes without a basket until Robin Kirk made a layup to break the streak.
Libby Calico knocked in three 3-pointers in the first for Lincoln as she tied with Jessica Goldman for a team lead in points with 9 each.
"In the first quarter, I told them, 'They're shooting lights out. That's just part of the game. Let's just do what we do, and that'll be good enough,'" Rucker said. "In the second half I just thought we took control of the game from the start."
With the win, Charleston swept the season series against Lincoln, handing the Wolves their only three conference losses.
Both teams will advance to the 3A Region I Tournament this week.
Lincoln^18^0^7^7^--^32
Charleston^15^7^19^16^--^57
Lincoln (23-6, 12-3): Calico 9, Goldman 9, Jenkins 5, T. Ortiz 4, Kirk 4, A. Ortiz 1
Charleston (24-1, 15-0): Green 19, Rucker 9, Grandison 8, King 6, Oldridge 5, Groen 4, Merechka 2, Adams 2, Stubblefield 2
Boys
Charleston 59, Elkins 50
As Charleston's Jacob Green made his way over to his coach with his Tigers up in the waning minutes of Saturday's 3A-1 West conference final, he had one thing to say to him.
"He came over, and he hugged me, saying, 'I love being a Tiger,'" Charleston coach BJ Ross said.
Green scored a game-high 24 points and Charleston ended the game on a 20-7 run after the Elks struggled to stop Green and the Tigers from penetrating the lane as they made some easy baskets in the paint.
Elkins led for most of the game, but Charleston was only ever a few possessions away from taking the lead. The Tigers jumped into a zone defense which forced the Elks to take some contested shots and disrupted its flow on offense that had proven effective for them in the first half.
"It slowed them down a bit, you know, they weren't able to run up and down the floor," Ross said. 'We kept telling them, 'Just weather the storm. Don't get down too bad, and we'll be alright.'"
Kaleb Fisher knocked down four straight free throws at the end of the game for Charleston to extend its lead to three possessions. Elkins had three players score in double-digits with Paxton Barnett leading the team with 14.
Charleston^8^16^13^22^--^59
Elkins^14^12^12^12^--^50
Charleston (17-6, 13-2): Green 24, Fisher 10, Caudle 8, Ross 7, Rowland 5, Goodson 5
Elkins (25-4, 13-2): Barnett 14, Johnson 13, Graham 11, Dunn 8, Andrews 4
Sports on 02/17/2019