The Lincoln Golden Eagles faced 2A 11th ranked Northeastern in the Wayne County tournament opening round on Thursday, Jan. 9, in a game played at Hagerstown, for the right to advance to the championship game.
The Eagles went to battle without leading scorer and rebounder Aidan Munchel (24 ppg, 8.6 rpg) and point guard and third-leading scorer Ryne Sturgis (9.0 ppg), who were sidelined with injury and illness. The deep and talented Knights broke from a 2-2 tie with a 17-0 run to build a 19-2 lead. Two free throws from Noah Patterson in the final seconds cut the Eagle deficit to 19-4 at the end of the first quarter.
Noah Payne scored 10 second-quarter points as the Knights expanded their advantage to 37-15 by halftime. The Eagles hit five 3-pointers, three by Oliver Webb, in the third quarter, but Northeastern countered with a 26-point explosion that saw seven Knights score to build a 63-32 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Knight guard Landon Scarrette hit a jump shot from the wing with 6:27 remaining in the fourth quarter, making the score 69-34 and triggering a running clock for the remainder of the game. The Knights went on to win the game 77-48 and advance to the championship game on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Payne led the Knights and all game scorers with 21 points. Scarrette scored 15 points, Sam White scored 12 points and Tre Vanlandingham added 10 points. Five Eagles scored 8 or more points in a balanced attack. Noah Patterson and Elijiah French each scored 10 points, Evan Stuckey and Webb each scored 9 points, and Dustin Lunsford added 8 points.
In postgame remarks, both Lincoln head coach Rodney Klein and Northeastern head coach Brent Ross agreed that the long-term health of their players is far more important than the outcome of a basketball game.
“I have been coaching for a long time, ” Klein said, “and I will not put the health of a player ahead of winning a high school basketball game. Northeastern is a good team and they did a good job of taking away things we like to do, especially early, and they hit shots against our zone. We don’t make excuses, we play the players we have available. We competed, but we ran into a buzz saw tonight. They are ranked for a reason.”
Ross expressed concern for the Lincoln players who were unable to play. “I told Aidan (Munchel) before the game that I hope he is OK and is able to return soon,“ Ross said. “He is having a great year. I hate to see a senior miss playing in the county tournament, but honestly, his health is more important than this game.”
“Everybody that played for us tonight gave a good effort and I am happy we won, but I don’t think we have reached our potential. Our defense is not as strong as it needs to be. We still have time to improve. So far this season we have always found a way to win, but I have not always been happy at the end of the game.”
Northeastern (12-0) 19 18 26 14 77
Payne 21, Kaleb Moore 0, Logan Seal 2, Vanlandingham 10, Scarrette 15, Trent Deloney 0, Marshall Phillips 7, Matthew Truitt 5, Brody Ross 3, White 12, Nic Markward 0, Cooper Cline 2 — Total 77
Lincoln (7-3) 4 11 17 16 48
Patterson 10, Lunsford 8, Clayton Vickers 0, Stuckey 9, Braxton Dick 0, Ben Bates 0, Caden Ripberger 0, Carson Hawk 2, Dustin Erwin, Webb 9, French 10 — Total 48
A version of this article appeared in the January 15 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.