Girls: Sylvan-Lucas 49, Lincoln 13 Boys: Sylvan-Lucas 55, Lincoln 54 (OT) LINCOLN-Lane Homewood scored a gamehigh 19 points, the last two coming on a coast to coast layup with three seconds left in over time to lift the Sylvan-Lucas Mustangs Boys Basketball team to their first win of the 2023-24 season by a score of 55-54 over intra- county rival Lincoln in the Northern Plains League opener for both teams Tuesday evening at Lincoln Junior-Senior High School.
The game was a back and forth affair from start to finish. Sylvan-Lucas led 14-11 after the first quarter before Lincoln scored the first five points of the second stanza to lead 1614. The Mustangs then closed the period with an 11-6 surge to lead 27-20 at intermission.
The Leopards then outscored Sylvan-Lucas 18-7 in quarter number three to grab the advantage back at 38-34. The lead changed hands numerous times in the fourth period and the game was tied 46-46 in the final 20 seconds of regulation when Harlan Pancost knocked down a threepointer to give the Mustangs a 49-46 edge with 12 seconds to go. Lincoln answered when Caleb Dotterer sank a trey of his own with 2.5 seconds left in regulation to knot the score at 49-49. The Mustangs missed a game-winning buzzer-beater from mid-court and the game went into overtime.
The Leopards appeared to be on their way to their first win in several years over Sylvan-Lucas when they scored the first five points of the extra session on a threepointer by Dotterer and a layup by Branden Sinclair to make score 54-49 in favor of Lincoln.
Pancost pulled the Mustangs to within 54-51 with 1:35 left in overtime with a jumper before Lincoln tried to run as much time off the clock as possible. After a missed shot by the Leopards, Homewood missed a gametying three-pointer allowing Lincoln another opportunity to finish off what would have been one of its biggest wins in recent years.
However, after an inbounds pass, Dotterer threw the ball right to Homewood who took the ball down the floor for a layup to pull Sylvan-Lucas to within 54-53 in the final minute. The Mustangs then fouled Logan Meier of Lincoln but he missed two free throws and after the second miss, Homewood, a four-year starter for Sylvan-Lucas raced the length of the court and scored a layup with three seconds left to give Sylvan-Lucas the lead and the Leopards’ desperation shot at the buzzer was off target allowing the Mustangs to win for the first time this season in five tries.
Joining Homewood in double figures for Sylvan-Lucas (1-4, 1-0 Northern Plains League) was Connor Charvat who had 11 points. Cooper Rathbun led Lincoln (1-4, 0-1 NPL) with 18 points while Meier added 10. Sylvan-Lucas ended up scoring the game’s final six points to pull out the victory.
Earlier Tuesday evening, the Sylvan-Lucas Lady Mustangs took control early and cruised to a 49-13 win over Lincoln. The Lady Mustangs scored the game’s first 10 points and led 18-4 after the opening eight minutes. The lead grew to 27-7 at intermission and 42-7 after three quarters before they settled for the 36-point win. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock.
Maggie Labertew led all scorers for Sylvan-Lucas (3-2, 1-0 NPL) with 16 points which included four three-point baskets. Bentley Smith was the top scorer for Lincoln (1-4, 0-1 NPL) with six points. Sylvan-Lucas will play its home opener on Friday, December 15 when they host Pike Valley while Lincoln will next be in action on January 5 at home against Osborne.
