When the recently crowned Henry County tournament champion Tri High Titans traveled to Cambridge City on Friday, Jan. 17, the Titans expected to pick up a win. The Titans outscored the Eagles 19-6 in the first quarter and made it look easy.
Over the next three quarters, the Titans discovered how resilient and determined the Eagles were.
Aidan Munchel scored 9 second-quarter points, and the Eagles cut their deficit to 26-23 by halftime. Munchel came back to pour in 14 third-quarter points. Entering the fourth quarter, the Titans were clinging to a 42-41 lead. The Eagles battled back to tie the game at the end of regulation and forced overtime.
With 10 seconds to play and Lincoln trailing 59-58, they called timeout to set up a play to try to win the game. Spectators expected the Eagles to turn to the high-scoring Munchel to shoot the ball; instead, Munchel delivered a perfect pass to Evan Stuckey, streaking to the basket for a layup with four seconds left to give the Eagles a 60-59 win.
With the win, the Eagles joined Northeastern and Winchester as the remaining TEC teams without a loss in league play.
Munchel led the winners with 29 points. Dustin Lunsford and Noah Patterson each scored 12 points. Bryant Cornelius led the Titans with 29 points, and Gracen Huffman scored 12 points.
Lincoln (8-3, 2-0 TEC) 6 17 18 13 6 60
Patterson 12, Lunsford 12, Stuckey 4, Carson Hawk 0, Munchel 29, Elijah French 0, Oliver Webb 3 — Total 60
Tri High (10-2, 2-1 TEC) 19 7 16 12 5 59
Eli Murphy 2, Cooper Engle 9, Gracen Huffman 12, Bryant Cornelius 29, Jonah Cox 0, Braiden Jackson 0, Bryan Kinder 7 — Total 59
A version of this article appeared in the January 22 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.