The Thunderbolts girls basketball team got off to a promising start on Thursday night. But it has been proven many times in sports: it is not about how you start, it is about how you finish.
The Lions from Lincoln staged a furious comeback, after trailing 6-0 to open the game, with stingy defense and picked up the road victory 38-26.
Kelsy Evje's layup about three and a half minutes into the game, increased the Bolts lead to 6-0. However, over the next 11 minutes Cranston East scored only three points.
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"Cranston East is well coached and they came to play," Lincoln's coach Andrew Hallam said.
Lincoln went on a 19-3 run during that time, opening up a 19-9 lead. The Lions used a full court press at times and played solid man to man defense, forcing many turnovers.
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A jumper by Scarlet Santos cut East's deficit to 19-11 heading into halftime.
With just under nine minutes left in the second half, Lincoln sophomore Kellyn Dyer drilled consecutive three pointers, increasing the lead to 30-18.
Cranston East could not muster much offense and their bid for a comeback would fall short. The Lions held on for the 38-26 victory.
Evje finished with eight points and Zoeigh Rodrigues led Cranston East with nine points.
"We work on the idea of learning and improving and that’s what the girls did tonight," Hallam added.
Cranston East's head coach, Rich Glover, liked what he saw to start the game.
"In the beginning of the game we passed the ball well and got some open shots," he said."We are a work in progress and we will improve."
