The Lincoln County girls were flat Tuesday night in a tough 54-31 loss at Southwestern but the Patriots were able to respond quickly, coming out fast Wednesday night in their makeup game at Boyle County and never trailing en route to a decisive 67-43 45th District win.

Lincoln, which had just beaten Boyle 80-48 Friday night at home, jumped on the host Rebels 5-0 early in the first and stretched that margin to 40-19 by the half and never looked back.

“I’m very proud of how the girls responded and bounced back,” Lincoln coach Cassandra McWhorter said. “We talked about some things and they talked to each other. You know, they took a lot of ownership in last night and I’m pleased with how we came back out tonight.”

Lincoln (16-5, 4-0 45th District) was led in the victory by a trio of double-digit scorers. Kaitlynn Wilks paced the Lady Patriots with a game-high 20 points, Maddy Boyle finished with 16 points and Emma King rounded out the trio with 15 points.

All three made their presence known early, with Boyle bombing in a 3-pointer to open the game and Wilks following with a bucket in the paint for the 5-0 start. Wilks would score six points early in the period to help the Patriots to a 9-5 lead before King put up a layup off a Boyle turnover to make it 11-5.

Boyle (15-6, 3-2) kept play close early, with Danielle Roney going to work for the Rebels. Roney opened her team’s scoring with a 3-pointer then hit twice inside to keep Boyle within 11-7.

But Lincoln, which connected on 61 percent of its first-quarter shots, going 11-for-18, would outscore Boyle 14-5 over the remainder of the first to take a 25-12 lead. 

Maddy Boyle picked up seven points in the run to end the first, King had three and Wilks and Lane had two points each. Gracie Edmiston and Kasey McGirr interrupted the Lincoln run with a bucket apiece.

The Patriots really distanced themselves from the Rebels in the second quarter, opening the frame on a 13-0 run. Wilks picked up three field goals in the scoring surge off assists from Trinity Shearer, King added three points and Haleigh Releford and Maddy Boyle each had two as Lincoln cushioned its lead to 40-19 at the half. 

McWhorter cleared her bench in the third quarter and the Lincoln reserves didn’t miss a step, outscoring Boyle 15-14 to take a 55-33 lead into the fourth quarter. The Patriots outscored the Rebels in every period, closing with a 12-10 edge in the fourth.

“It’s good when you can get everybody in,” said McWhorter. “Yes, we’ve got some growing up with the young ones, but I’m proud of their effort and everybody’s effort all the way around.”

One Patriot that didn’t see action was Zaria Napier. The junior forward injured her right ankle at Southwestern Tuesday night, but dressed for the game.

“She wanted to play tonight,” McWhorter said. “She got looked at and we don’t think anything is broke. But we need to protect her right now and let her heal and get her ready because we’ve got district tournament coming up.”

The Patriots shot 48 percent from the field overall, going 29-for-60. They were 7-for-11 at the foul line.

The Rebels finished at 30 percent from the field, going 14-for-46. At the line, they were 9-for-15.

Turnovers were a problem for both Lincoln and Boyle, with 36 miscues between them. The Patriots had 14 turnovers and the Rebels, 22.