Lincoln Christian got a big win to close out a busy week on Saturday afternoon, as the Bulldogs held on against Sapulpa 53-50 in the Lincoln Winter Classic.

The Bulldogs led for the entirety of the second half and made some key plays down the stretch, picking up the close victory in Lincoln's third game in as many days. 

"Saturday was a big win for this team," said Lincoln head coach Jonathan Hopkins. "In three consecutive days of our Winter Classic, we played two quality 5A teams and then a 6A team. Combined, the three teams had a record of 20-6 before we played them."

No. 18 Lincoln (6-7) led by as many as 13 in the second half and by 10 early in the 4th before Sapulpa made a final push.

Senior Chandler Cozbey made some big free throws and baskets down the stretch, as he led the Bulldogs with 18 points.

And his classmate, Chase Jobe, made a big defensively play on the final possession of the game as Sapulpa tried a full court pass to try and set up a shot to tie the game.

"We had several guys step up and different times throughout the game," said Hopkins. "I was really happy to see Chase make the steal at the end of the game. Anytime you can get a stop to win the game, it gives the team confidence going into the next game. Chase made a huge play on that last possession."

Lincoln broke out of a shooting slump, as the Bulldogs shot 52% from the floor as a team.

Cozbey was 7-of-10 from the floor, while junior Rain Ragland had a breakout offensive game, finishing with eight points and four rebounds, including 2-of-2 from three in the win.

"Saturday was a perfect example of us making some improvements upon some weaknesses we showed Thursday and Friday," said Hopkins. "We watched some film on Saturday morning before our game, and I think guys saw that we were closing to being in the right spots, close to finishing blockouts or close to making the right plays. Close is good, but it's not good enough against quality teams."

After getting a big conference win over Holland Hall on Tuesday night, Lincoln fell in back-to-back games to top-tier 5A teams on Thursday and Friday, losing to Carl Albert and Collinsville.

"It's crazy how tough our tournament was this year, but we don't shy away from playing tough teams. We know this tough schedule will prepare us for a playoff run in February and March," said Hopkins.

The head coach was more than happy to load up the field to make his team better, as that helps Hopkins and his bunch prepare for their ultimate goal.

"Our goal this year has been to get back to the State Tournament," he said. "Sure, we'd love to win every game on our way to that goal, but ultimately, we want to play teams that are better than us so that our weaknesses can be exposed before we go into the playoffs."

But playing all three teams tough and finding a way to win down the stretch Saturday showed Hopkins' group what they are capable of.

Now they just need to build off of it.

"We saw that we could compete against quality teams, and then we saw what it takes to beat quality teams," Hopkins said. "Now the responsibility is on us to keep making game winning plays for 32 minutes against every team that we play this year."

Jobe had eight points, three rebounds and three steals in the win over Sapulpa.

Senior Jamie Ploch had seven points and five rebounds for Lincoln.

It was tough sledding for both offenses early, as Sapulpa led 7-5 after the first quarter.

But Lincoln found some offense in the second, starting the quarter on a 7-0 run and eventually leading 25-17 at halftime. 

The Bulldogs biggest lead of the game came midway through the 3rd, when Lincoln pushed it out to 32-19.

Lincoln was fantastic through the middle part of the game, as the Bulldogs shot 12-of-16 from the floor in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, including 5-of-6 from three.

The Bulldogs will be at No. 2 (4A) Cascia Hall tonight for a Pinnacle Conference matchup before taking the road again on Friday to face Metro Christian.



Photos by Lee Talley