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The Lincoln County girls’ basketball team spent the final days of 2019 playing in the post-Christmas Banker Hardwood Classic at Russell County and, while the Lady Patriots wouldn’t sweep the three-day tourney, they would close with back-to-back wins.

The back-to-back wins included a decisive win over 45th District rival Boyle County on Friday.

Lincoln (5-6) usually doesn’t face off against district opponents until after the new year but the Lady Patriots got an early look at Boyle when they were matched up against the Lady Rebels in round two of the tournament.

Senior guard Trinity Shearer would lead 10 scoring Lady Patriots with a game-high 16 points as Lincoln beat Boyle 57-39.

Chloe Ralston followed with eight points.

Shearer earned her 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting on a night that saw the Lady Patriots going 22-for-55 from the field overall for 40 percent. The team finished 5-for-11 from 3-point range and bolstered its score with an 8-for-11 effort at the free throw line.

Boyle (4-7) shot 35 percent from the field, going 16-for-48 overall, 5-for-19 from 3-point range. The Lady Rebels were just 2-for-3 at the foul line.

Keely Bowling led Boyle’s scoring with 14 points. She went 4-for-10 from 3-point range. Peyton Bugg and Alyssa Wray both finished with eight points.

Rounding out Lincoln’s scoring were Talynne Shearer with six points, Abby Lane, Ally Lynn and Haleigh Releford with five points apiece, Emily Estes and Savannah Robbins each with four points and Haleigh Ellison and Hailee Reed with two points apiece.

Robbins led Lincoln in a 36-22 win on the glass with eight rebounds. Trinity Shearer had five boards.

Others scoring for Boyle were Kelsea Hinkle with three points and Madison Baker and Emily Glasscock with two points each.

Glasscock led Boyle in rebounding with eight rebounds.

Lincoln took on Monroe County Saturday in the tourney’s final round and, again, came out on top.

Trinity Shearer and Haleigh Releford combined for 30 points to lead the Lady Patriots in a 74-63 win over the Lady Falcons.

Shearer had a team-high 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting and seven rebounds. Releford finished with 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting.

Monroe’s Paisley Ford had a game-high 24 points on 8-for-19 shooting.

Both teams finished at 40 percent shooting for the game but, while Monroe (4-7) outshot Lincoln from 3-point range (6-for-20 to 2-for-13) the Lady Patriots got more shots to fall overall and cashed in big time at the foul line. Lincoln went 26-for-65 from the field and knocked down 20 of 34 free throw attempts to distance itself from Monroe. The Lady Falcons went 21-for-52 from the field, 6-for-20 from 3. They were 15-for-17 at the line.

Eleven Lady Patriots figured in the scoring in the Monroe win. Talynne Shearer contributed nine points, Hailee Reed and Lydia Rice each had seven points, Abby Lane scored six points, Savannah Robbins and Chloe Ralston added four points each, Emily Estes and Ally Lynn each had three points and Haleigh Ellison added a free throw toss.

Rice had five boards in Lincoln’s 33-32 win on the glass. Lane, Releford, Lynn and Ralston each had four.

For Monroe, Ella Massingille finished with eight points, Brynley Hatcher and Alayna Hodges each had six points, Gracie Veach and Kelsie Langford both had five points, Ramsey Bartley had four points, Aubrey Woods, three and Halee Deckard, two.

The only blemish on Lincoln’s record in the three-day tournament was a 65-58 loss to Green County in the first round of play on Thursday. No scoring or shooting stats were available from the game.