10:06am: Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval

Frankfort closes strong to eliminate Lincoln, 46-38

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — At halftime of Thursday night’s Class AA quarterfinal between No. 5 Frankfort and No. 4 Lincoln, Falcons’ standout senior guard Abby Beeman had four points on 2-of-9 shooting.

Considering Beeman surpassed 2,000 career points more than a month ago and was coming off a 33-point performance in a win against North Marion, the Falcons had to be feeling just fine with facing a 26-24 deficit.

Sure enough, Beeman scored 12 of her team’s 22 points in the second half, and Frankfort held the Cougars to 1-of-19 shooting over the final two quarters to earn a 46-38 win at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center.

“She knows what she has to do and you don’t really have to tell her anything,” Frankfort coach Michael Miller said. “She knows when she has to take over a game and when she has to distribute to her teammates.”

Beeman scored eight points of her team’s 10 points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc that broke a 31-all tie and sent Frankfort (21-4) into the fourth up by three.

“There aren’t too many people shooting that shot and making it,” Lincoln coach Rob Hawkins said. “That was seven or eight feet behind the line and that’s what makes her so good — she shoots it so effortlessly from distance.”

The Cougars (21-4) got a pair of free throws from Victoria Sturm to start the fourth-quarter scoring, but never made a field goal over the final eight minutes.

Instead, Macie Miller made two free throws to put the Falcons back up three, and freshman Maria Perdew connected on a jumper from the high post to make it 38-33 with 5:42 remaining.

After Beeman made two free throws with 4:55 left, Makenna Douthitt scored on a follow-up at the 3:50 mark, enabling Frankfort to lead 42-34.

From there, the Cougars tried to change defenses and trap Beeman as best they could, but the Shepherd signee was a big reason her team advanced to Friday’s 7:15 p.m. semifinal against No. 1 Fairmont Senior.

“We’re very thankful to have a player like that,” Miller said. “She handles the ball so well.”

The Falcons built an early 6-0 lead, but Sturm made two 3s as part of an eight-point first quarter to bring Lincoln back to within 14-11 entering the second.

Katie Martin’s jumper gave the Cougars their first lead at 17-16, and Brynne Williams broke a 24-all tie on a jumper with 41 seconds left in the half.

Beeman finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, six steals and only one turnover while playing all 32 minutes.

“I knew my shots weren’t falling, so I was trying to do everything else I could to help my team win,” Beeman said.

Douthitt added a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, including eight first-half points to help keep her team close.

“It’s almost like I expect it now, she gets them so much,” Beeman said of Douthitt’s double-double. “I’m proud of her and she stepped up tonight for us.”

Twenty-eight of Lincoln’s 46 field-goal attempts were 3s, while Sturm was the Cougars’ lone double-figure scorer with 13 points.

Martin was 3-for-3 off the bench and scored eight points in defeat, while Williams had eight points and nine rebounds.

Allison Rockwell led Lincoln with 13 rebounds.

“Everybody thought this was a toss-up game coming in and it definitely was,” Hawkins said. “We were pretty evenly matched. I thought we played pretty well, but in the second half the ball stopped going in the basket.”

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