The #3 seed Loggers played host to the #1 seed Parkland College Cobras and won 70-50 in the Region 24 Championship game. Lincoln Land jumped to an early lead outscoring the Cobras 18-5 in the first period. The second period saw the roles reversed as Parkland outscored Lincoln Land 17-8. Lincoln Land held a slim four-point lead at the half. In what proved to be a defensive battle, both teams struggled to score and find any breathing room. Marley Smith and Avrie Schmidt both found early foul trouble for the Loggers and spent much of the first half on the bench. “This game was so intense from the get go ” stated Logger coach Chad Jones.
The second half saw the Loggers get aggressive with an attacking offense. Lincoln Land managed to put pressure on the Cobra defense by driving the paint hard. Freshman guard Durbin Thomas was aggressive off the dribble and score a couple of clutch pull up jumpers. Parkland switched defenses and went to a zone in an effort to slow the Logger attack. Durbin Thomas and Avrie Schmidt hit five threes in that period that forced Parkland to return to a man defense. Lincoln Land slowly pulled away and eventually won 70-50. “These kids have battled so much all year. Injuries, illness, you name it and we dealt with it” said Jones. “I’m so proud of them for how they handled the adversity and just kept coming to work.”
Lincoln Land was lead in scoring by Sam Lindhorst with 16. Megan Harell, Marley Smith, and Avrie Schmidt all had 14. Durbin Thomas contributed 10, all of which came in the second half. Megan Harrell pulled down a team high nine rebounds. Whitney Rumbold pulled down seven. Sam Lindhorst and Avrie Schmidt each pulled down five. The Loggers only turned the ball over 10 times in the game. Lincoln Land improves to 27-6 and will advance the NJCAA Division 2 National Championships in Joplin Missouri beginning March 18th.
