Allen East’s Savana Brooks spots up from the corner as Lincolnview’s Ella Elling contests the shot on Thursday night at Lincolnview.
Nate Reynolds | The Lima News
MIDDLE POINT — With their two top scorers struggling from the field Allen East needed some other players to step up.
Brynn Richardson and Aubrey Young answered the call on Thursday night, drilling a couple of second-half threes during a run that separated the Mustangs (15-2) from Lincolnview (11-8) in a 44-35 win.
Young canned a triple with 11 seconds left in the third quarter, putting Allen East up 33-25. Then Richardson opened up the fourth quarter by hitting a shot from beyond the arc to make it an 11-point game. Both threes came in the midst of an 11-2 run for the Mustangs that spanned nearly seven minutes.
“We practice those shots every day,” Allen East coach Aaron Montgomery said. “They (Young and Richardson) take hundreds of shots a week from that same spot on the court. Sometimes I feel like they’re open in games and they’re a little timid to shoot, so you may not always see that from them, but they practice those shots every day.”
To that point in the game, Savana Brooks and Rilynn Jones, Allen East’s top two scorers, had combined to shoot just 6 of 19 from the floor.
“They were playing tough denial defense (on Rilynn and Savana). They played physical with us when we tried to attack and I didn’t feel like we were being strong enough with the ball. At the same time, they’re two NWC first-teamers, and I really tried to challenge them at halftime to be strong and force them to foul you.”
Brooks and Jones responded in the fourth quarter with seven of Allen East’s final eight points, including three trips to the free-throw line.
“We wanted to deny everywhere else when they (Brooks and Jones) didn’t have the ball in their hands,” Lincolnview coach Kyle Williams said. “We did a good job on them, but good players are good players. I thought we defended well enough to win, but Allen East is a good team. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t go your way.”
Keira Breese turned in a game-high 17 points for Lincolnview.
The Lancers led only one time for the first 1:47 on a game-opening layup from Emerson Walker.
Allen East shook off the slow start that came with a week-long layoff to take a two-point lead after one and a 20-16 advantage at the break.
“I knew there would be some dead legs because we played three games last week, but we came in at halftime and made some adjustments,” Montgomery said. “We really just tried to motivate the girls and get them ready to play in the second half.
“That’s a typical Thursday night in the NWC. We kind of know everyone by now. We know it’s going to be physical, it’s going to be tough. You’re going to be well-scouted, so you’ve really just got to bring your A-game and be ready to execute. I thought in the first half we came out a little flat.”
Allen East went on to shoot 14 of 38 for 36% from the field, compared to 10 of 42 and 23% for Lincolnview. Both teams struggled with turnovers, but Allen East committed less with 15, while Lincolnview lost the ball 19 times.
The Mustangs also held the rebounding advantage 20-19.
Allen East 44, Lincolnview 35
Allen East 12 8 13 11 – 44
Lincolnview 10 6 9 10 – 35
Allen East
Rilynn Jones 15, Savana Brooks 11, Soraya Jackson 6, Brynn Richardson 6, Aubrey Young 3, Taylor Nickles 2, Dylan Miller 1, Totals: 14-10-44.
Lincolnview
Keira Breese 17, Emerson Walker 8, Ashlyn Price 5, Addysen Stevens 4, Kassidy Hammons 1, Totals: 10-11-35
3-pointers — AE Richardson 2, Jones 1, Young 1; LV Walker 2, Breese 1
Records: Allen East 15-2, 4-2 NWC; Lincolnview 11-8, 4-2 NWC
