Zone defense, clutch shot making gets Lincoln County by Jeffersontown

Lincoln County entered the Sweet 16 as the 12th region champs due to the Patriots being elite on defense. Head coach Jeff Jackson mainly uses a man-to-man defense, but it was a 2-3 zone that smothered Jeffersontown at Rupp Arena.

In the 45-41 win to start the Sweet 16 on Wednesday, the defense was the story of the game. The Patriots held a very efficient J’town offense to just 41 points in 54 possessions as the Chargers shot just 28.3 percent from the floor with a 2 of 19 mark from downtown. Meanwhile, 11 forced turnovers turned into 11 points for the Patriots.

Lincoln County entered the postseason with the No. 7 scoring defense (48.9) in the state, but Jackson had to get creative to slow down an athletic and explosive J’town offense.

“Our best defense this year has been our man-to-man,” Jackson told reporters after the win. “They were so long, so athletic, we got in a little bit of foul trouble we needed to play some zone. The zone was very, very good to us. We were very active out of it with our hands. We moved our feet and did a good job of getting over screens against their zone offense.”

“It was really good to us today.”

However, the offense had to deliver in the clutch.

An ugly second half performance opened the door the Jeffersontown after Lincoln County built a 29-20 lead at the halftime break. The Patriots scored just seven points in the third quarter and shot just 2 of 7 from the field. Cold free throw shooting was the biggest culprit as the Patriots missed six straight from the charity stripe in the second half. Yet, Jaxon Smith — a five-year starter — broke the streak with a pair of makes to cut a small J’town lead to 39-38 with 2:38 remaining.

Clutch junior Colton Ralston then came up big again in the clutch after a last-second three allowed Lincoln County to defeat Pulaski County in the regional championship.

After Jeffersontown made just one of two at the charity stripe, the Patriots ran a play for the 39.4 percent three-point shooter, and the 6-foot-3 junior nailed a trey from the left wing.

.@RalstonColton is known for hitting big shots…42-41 Lincoln up. 49 seconds left. Jtown ball pic.twitter.com/1YuASzlp4q

— Troy Howell (@teeroyhowell) March 16, 2022

“It was a called play,” said Jackson. “He’s got the green light to shoot it anytime he wants to.”

That trey from Ralston put Lincoln County up 42-41 with 53 seconds left in the game and would be the last made field goal on the Rupp Arena floor. The Patriots would go on to hit three more free throws to ice the game thanks to a 50-50 charge call on Jeffersontown and a missed trey by Xavier Price at the top of the key.

“I was 0-for-3 on the first three in the half — to hit that one felt good,” said Ralston who finished the game with 12 points and four rebounds in 32 minutes.

That scoring from Ralston was needed as Lincoln County’s leading scorer — Tramane Alcorn — fouled out in 27 minutes with just six points on seven shot attempts.

For J’town, the season comes to an end for the sixth region champs. The Chargers had an excellent year, but they’ll end their short stay at Rupp Arena after a defeat dropped the program’s record to 4-4 all-time at the Sweet 16. Cold shooting was the story of the game.

The Chargers were just 13 of 46 from the floor (28.3%), 2 of 19 from three (10.5%), and 9 of 38 (23.7%) on shots not at the rim. Senior Will Vasser has led the way all year for the Chargers, and the senior had just eight points on 1 of 10 shooting. Numbers much lower than his season average of 13.6 points and 49.5 percent from the floor.

“We just couldn’t hit shots,” said Jeffersontown head coach Richard Duncan.

Lincoln County now moves onto the quarterfinal round where the Patriots will play the winner of Muhlenberg County vs. North Oldham on Friday.