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The last time the Lincoln and Casey girls met in the regional tournament, the Lady Patriots left in tears as the Lady Rebels claimed the 2009 title.

If any tears were shed on the Lincoln sideline Monday in the first round of the 2010 12th Region Tournament, they were tears of joy as the host Lady Patriots led a victory celebration following a 49-40 dethroning of Casey.

“We liked the outcome a lot better this time,” said Lincoln coach Don Story.

Lincoln (23-4) didn’t get to start its victory dance until the buzzer sounded on the game, with Casey (17-13) overcoming a 13-point first-half deficit to challenge the Lady Patriots in the second half.

“They would not go away,” said Story. “Three or four times I felt like, if we can continue to score a time or two, we’d be okay, but they wouldn’t let us get away.”

Lincoln finally managed to “get away” in the final two minutes and 23 seconds of the game, using a 10-2 run to put the game away.

Story said he knew going into Monday’s game that Casey, which made it to the state semifinals last year, wouldn’t make it easy for Lincoln.

“When you’ve been to Diddle (site of state tourney at Bowling Green), you know what it’s like and you want it back. So they had that going for them,” he said. “Also, they’d just gotten beat in the district final by their archrival, Rockcastle, so they’re fired up.”

“I told the girls they were like a hurt dog,” said Story. “I told them they would come out fighting and scrapping. And they did. It was a tough, tough game, but we did our best to get the win.”

The Lady Patriots were making it look easy early on, exploding to a 12-3 lead in the first and posting an 18-5 lead early in the second quarter.

Kendra Brown accounted for half of her team-high 16 points as Lincoln opened up the 13-point lead, using the bank shot to cash in her points. Jessica Upchurch, who contributed 14 points in the Lady Pat win, also kicked in for eight points in the early run.

While Lincoln’s offense soared, Casey’s sputtered. The Lady Rebels were ice cold from the field for most of the first half, making good on only one of their first 17 shot attempts. Overall, Casey was 12-for-33 from the field.

The one thing keeping the Lady Rebels in the game the first half was forward Nicole Coffman. Coffman, who finished with a game-high 25 points, five rebounds and two assists, scored all of Casey’s 16 first-half points.

Coffman led her own rally late in the first half, scoring 13 points in the final four minutes of the second quarter to trim Lincoln’s lead down to 22-16.

“She played an outstanding game, especially the first half,” said Story. “She was hitting outside, she was taking it inside and she got to the foul line quite a bit.”

Casey continued to cut into Lincoln’s lead as the second half unfolded. Jamie Wesley opened the quarter scoring, Megan Pittman followed with a three-point play and Coffman scored again to nose Casey on top 23-22.

Both teams were on the run in the third quarter, with Lincoln answering Casey with a 9-3 surge. Upchurch, who was 4-for-5 from the field and 5-for-8 at the foul line, picked up a three-point play off a driving left-handed layup and Brown, who was 8-for-11 shooting, followed with six points, including a bucket in the paint off an Upchurch assist, to boost Lincoln ahead 31-26 with 1:28 to go in the third.

Wesley, who finished with five points for Casey, rang up her final points from long range before the horn sounded on the third to make it 31-29 heading into the final period.

Casey was back on top early in the fourth with Coffman draining a 3-pointer for a 32-31, Lady Reb lead. But Emily Fox returned the favor on the Lincoln end with her own trey to make it 34-32, Lady Pats.

Pittman, who scored 10 points for the Lady Rebels, picked up four points and Coffman added a bucket to give Casey a 38-37 lead with 3:17 to play before Lincoln’s Nikki Bustle launched her final basket of the game, a 3-pointer, to put Lincoln in front to stay, 40-38.

“We had three big time shots tonight and Nikki’s was one of those shots,” said Story. “When Jessica took it to the hole and got the three-point play in the third quarter, that was huge for us because it kind of changed momentum. Emily’s 3 was a big, big shot and, when Nikki hit the 3, that was just incredible.”

Casey still had its chances to pull out the win but three turnovers, missed shots and fouls proved costly for the Lady Rebels.

Lincoln sealed the win at the line, sinking 7 of 9 free throws.

“Any time we play Casey it seems like it is a daggone battle, a back-and-forth game,” said Story. “I felt like our kids just battled the whole second half and wouldn’t be denied.”

And Story said he has his seniors to thank for that.

“This senior team is a tough nut to crack,” he said. “We’ve been talking all year about just being so determined, so motivated. They just are determined not to be defeated.”

Lincoln was 16-for-37 from the field and 14-for-21 from the foul line.

Casey led Lincoln on the glass, 21-19. Upchurch and Pittman were the game’s leading rebounders with nine boards each.

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