An old Lincoln County basketball rivalry brought out the best inboth teams Friday night. Visiting West Lincoln escaped with ahard-earned 61-59 varsity boys victory over the Loyd StarHornets.

The outcome wasn’t decided until Loyd Star sophomore guard DrewCase missed a hurried 3-point field goal with 1 second left toplay.

“Loyd Star didn’t make a shot at the end,” said West Lincolncoach Lane Young. “That was the difference in the game. We playedpretty well in spots but both teams were inconsistent.”

A near-capacity crowd watched Loyd Star nearly overcome a10-point, 52-42, deficit to start the fourth quarter. Case pumpedin a trio of treys during the rally and made 6 in the game. Hislast trey cut the Bears’ lead to 56-53 with 3:10 left on theclock.

West Lincoln (4-0) remained undefeated by making 5 of 8 freethrows in the final 2:22. Sophomore post Bradleigh Rice netted 3 of4 and senior guard Stephen Jones made a pair.

Rice finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds. He shared scoringhonors with teammate and senior guard Shane Lynch.

Jeremy Byrd collected 8 rebounds in the victory. Jones and Lyncheach made 5 assists.

“I was proud of our team’s effort,” said Loyd Star coach Gene(Moochie) Britt. “We only have two starters back. West Lincoln hasa good ball team. It was a good rivalry game.”

Britt saw senior guard Tyler Williford pump in a game-high 21points. Matthew Henderson had 5 rebounds and Ricky Barnes had 5steals.

Barnes, a 6-foot-4 sophomore center, was held to 5 points. Hefouled out with 32 seconds left to play and Loyd Star trailing60-57.

Williford netted 2 free throws with 22 seconds left to play,leaving Loyd Star down 60-59. Rice hit 1 free throw with 17 secondsleft on the clock.

Junior High Results

In the preliminary junior high game, Loyd Star whipped WestLincoln 62-10, led by Joseph Shelby’s 9 points. Glen Thomas andMcKinley Hamilton had 8 points each. Fred Clark and Keldric Smithscored 6 apiece. Julius Whittaker and Adrian Newton both had 5points.

West Lincoln (0-5) got 7 points from Matt Magee.