LINCOLN -- Hicks showed her versatility with 17 points and two late steals to lead Gravette to a 58-56 victory Tuesday in a 4A-1 Conference opener at the Wolves gymnasium. Gravette improved to 7-3 overall after winning only six games last season.
"These five seniors won only two games their ninth-grade year and won six games last year," Gravette coach Will Pittman said. "But they've worked and worked and stuck with the program. This group is tough and they just get tougher every day."
Hicks stole a pass near mid court and made a free throw to give Gravette a 57-56 lead with 22 seconds left. She had another steal after an inbound under the Gravette goal with 10 seconds left. Hicks again made a free throw with 6.9 seconds left for a 58-56 lead.
Lincoln had a final chance to tie, but the Lady Wolves missed a contested layup to end the game.
"Sydney stepped up her defense late when she knew we had to have a stop," Pittman said. "She did a great job and that rubbed off on everybody else. We knew this was going to be a tough game because we had just beaten Lincoln in the finals of the Decatur Tournament."
Kendra Cummings finished with 22 points to lead Lincoln (3-6, 0-1), which rallied from a 30-21 deficit at halftime. Tuesday's opener was a game of runs, beginning in the first half when Gravette pulled ahead by scoring 13 of the last 14 points in the second quarter.
Lincoln then outscored Gravette 22-12 in the third quarter to take a 43-42 lead. Gravette again answered with a 10-2 surge to take a 52-47 lead after a free throw by Tori Foster with four minutes left in the game.
"Turnovers at critical points was the difference in the ball game for us," Lincoln coach Brian Davenport said. "But my girls competed and played extremely hard. That's something we need right now."
Krystin Branscum added 13 points and Amanda Pinter 11 for Gravette, which called an early timeout after falling behind 8-3. Gravette made 21 of 30 free throws, including 5 of 7 by Hicks in the fourth quarter. Lincoln was 8 of 11 from the line.
BOYS
Gravette 46, Lincoln 40
Gravette outscored Lincoln 21-7 in the third quarter to earn a road victory in the conference opener.
Jackson Soule', Dayton Wishon and Kyle Fox each scored 12 points for Gravette. The Lions made 12 of 15 free throws while Lincoln was 7 of 13 from the line.
Garrett Blankenship scored 11 points to lead Lincoln.
GIRLS
GRAVETTE 58, LINCOLN 56
Gravette^11^19^12^16^--^58
Lincoln^15^6^22^13^--^56
Lincoln (3-6, 0-1): Cummings 22, Howard 13, McConnell 11, Cunningham 3, Webb 3, Dobbs 2, Jones 2.
Gravette (7-3, 1-0): Hicks 17, Branscum 13, Pinter 11, Chalk 7, Foster 7, Garcia 2, Kardynalski 1.
BOYS
GRAVETTE 46, LINCOLN 40
Gravette^11^4^21^10^--^46
Lincoln^10^8^7^15^--^40
Gravette (5-5, 1-0): Soule 12, Fox 12, Wishon 12, Crawford 7, Trembly 3.
Lincoln (5-6, 0-1): Blankenship 11, Barnum 8, Castaneda 7, Means 5, Pomeroy 3, Sugg 2, Swain 2, Lee 2.
Sports on 12/23/2015