February 7, 2008
Walker's 3 beats The Meadows

Lincoln County 2008 2A Southern Division Champs

By Dave Maxwell, Staff Writer

Dantley Walker swished a 3-point shot as the horn sounded to give Lincoln County a heart-stopping 68-67 come-from-behind win at The Meadows February 9 giving the Lynx their first 2A Southern Division title.

Down by five points with 10 seconds to go, Chris Bernal hit a 3-pointer with five seconds left and Lincoln forced a turnover on the inbounds pass. Bernal grabbed the ball and handed off to Walker who let fly with a 3-point shot and time ran out while the ball was in the air.

“It was a miracle play,” said Assistant Coach Greg Walker. “We were dead. It just happened. It was just one of those things you get lucky on sometimes.”

However, for about three quarters and six minutes, the game looked anything like it was going to be a thriller, Lincoln Coach Mike Wood said. “Meadows is a better team than people give them credit for and we did not play well at all. They played the best game I’d seen them play all year and we did not.” It was so ugly, he said, “If I’d had a remote, I would have changed the channel.”

Walker scored 24 points for the Lynx, including four of his six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Chris Shinkle had 22 points. Jon Chino for Meadows scored 26 points.

The win clinches the 2A Boys Southern Division league title and gives the Lynx (17-6, 7-1) the Number 1 seed into the Regional Tournament at Del Sol High School February 15-16. Their first round opponent: The Meadows. Lincoln and #4 The Meadows (4-13, 2-6) will play Friday, February 15 at 8 pm. Number 2 seed West Wendover and Needles play Friday at 4:40 pm.

Winners play on Saturday, at 5:00 pm, with both advancing to the 2A State tournament February 22-23 at Lawler Arena in Reno.