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Too much Tigers: Lincoln turns back West Mesquite in area finals
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
RICHARDSON--In its playoff opener on Tuesday, West Mesquite overcame a poor first quarter to defeat Frisco Centennial.
Just 48 hours later, they were unable to recapture the same magic.
Lincoln proved it was every bit worthy of its No. 2 state ranking as it raced to an early lead and answered every Wrangler charge the rest of the way en route to a 77-62 victory on Thursday in a Class 4A area round playoff game at Richardson Berkner High School.
The Wranglers trailed by 15 after one quarter and were down by as many as 24 in the third quarter. But they never stopped battling and pulled to within 58-46 on a layup by Alexis Jordan early in the fourth quarter.
But as it did all night, Lincoln provided a swift response, as Kelsey Criner, who had a team-high 20 points, knocked down a 3-pointer and Jasmine Cooper followed with a second-chance bucket to push the lead back to 17.
West Mesquite got the deficit back to 13 midway through the fourth on a 3-pointer by Trynise Knight. Their best option was to make the Tigers make their free throws, which they did, hitting 12-of-18 down the stretch.
Claudia Price, West Mesquite's lone senior, played like she was not ready for her high school career to end, finishing with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Knight and Alexus Bertrand were also in double figures with 11 points each.
In addition to Criner, Jade Colbert scored 17 points and Dariel Johnson and Nicoria Denman each added 10.
The Wranglers trailed Frisco Centennial 13-0 after the first quarter in the bi-district round and knew they could not afford the same slow start against Lincoln.
But the Tigers did not give them much of a choice, hitting 10-of-19 shots in the first quarter and turning six West Mesquite turnovers into easy points.
The Wranglers were within 12-8 when Price scored inside, but Lincoln showed just how quickly they could change the course of a game. After Cooper hit two free throws, they stole the inbound pass and Alisha Washington knocked down a trey and was fouled, completing the four-point play.
West Mesquite turned the ball over on its next possession, as well, leading to a layup by Criner that made it 20-8.
The Wranglers continued to attack, getting high-percentage scores from Bertrand and Price, but they could not contain Lincoln, with Criner knocking down a 3-pointer an Cooper hitting a jumper to give them a 27-12 lead after one quarter.
The rest of the game followed a similar script, with West Mesquite creeping back to within striking distance only to have the Tigers slam the door.
They pulled to within 31-21 midway through the second quarter on a putback by Jazmyne Walker, but Denman came right back with a trey just seconds later.
West Mesquite again got to within 10 when Price hit a pair from the charity stripe, but Johnson was fouled and knocked down both free throws and Jalah Walton turned a turnover into a lay-in that made it 40-26.
The Wranglers missed their first six shots of the second half and Lincoln pounced, as Criner and Johnson hit 3-pointers to spark a 13-2 run that pushed the advantage to 53-29.
Follow Devin Hasson on Twitter at @DevinHasson.
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