SHINNSTON, W.Va. — Frankfort saw its five-point lead late in the opening half become a two-point deficit through two quarters in Monday’s matchup at Lincoln.
When the Cougars’ Jacob Bart opened the second-half scoring with one of his team’s eight three-pointers, the visitors trailed by five.
From that point forward, it was all Frankfort, with the Falcons shooting 68 percent (17 for 25) over the final two frames to pull away for a 72-61 victory.
“Our transition helped. When we’re getting the ball out and pushing it up the floor, we can score, and then if we don’t have something in transition, we’re able to get into whatever set we’re going to,” Falcons’ head coach Scott Slider said. “We got some good shots out of that. It makes a big difference when you’re getting transition buckets though.”
Jeremy Phillips and Kycin Waites were the offensive catalysts for FHS (6-5) and hit consecutive three-pointers early into the third to leave their team with a 33-30 lead.
After Cole Vincent countered with a bucket for the Cougars (3-7), the Falcons ran off 10 straight points. Waites accounted for a conventional three-point play during that stretch, which saw Phillips score the last five points, including a three-point play of his own to leave Lincoln with a 43-32 deficit with 2:36 remaining in the third.
Another Phillips triple that followed his second conventional three-point play of the frame allowed FHS to lead 49-35, and the Falcons settled for a 53-42 advantage after three.
Driving bucket that amounted to a conventional three-point play from Frankfort’s Jeremy Phillips during 28-point third quarter for Falcons in 72-61 win at Lincoln.#wvprepbb pic.twitter.com/9huPNxfQEy
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) January 19, 2026
“We made a nice second-quarter run, came out in the third and took a five-point lead and then it was like we just stopped playing,” Cougars’ head coach Jordan Toth said. “Not enough energy, no one is talking. Their guys are going right around us and then we go down three or four possessions and pretty much have to do everything perfectly the rest of the way.”
Frankfort, which went to halftime shooting 11 for 24, made 9-of-12 shots in the third quarter.
“One of the things we constantly preach to the boys is unity,” Slider said. “That’s just playing together as a team. Our goal is to get to the state tournament, and to get to the state tournament, we have to play together as a team. We haven’t done that enough in the past and we’re working on that each game. We’re seeing it happen more and it’s a big deal for us, so we have to keep it up.”
Frankfort appeared to be on its way to a relatively comfortable win and was on top 64-51 after Phillips made a jumper, but the Cougars’ AJ Bart accounted for the next five points, and when he scored again with 1:55 remaining, Lincoln trailed 66-61.
The Cougars got the ball back down five, but Vincent misfired on a three, and two free throws from Bryson McKenzie with 57 seconds left helped the Falcons preserve the victory.
“We weren’t securing the basketball like we needed to there. A couple of our passes left a lot to be desired there, but they’re stepping up defensively, too, and give them credit as well,” Slider said. “They took advantage of us not being super sharp and got hands on them and got stuff out of it.”
Frankfort led for the majority of the first half, including 15-11 after one quarter after holding the Cougars to 4-for-15 shooting from the field through 8 minutes.
Phillips’ midrange jumper in the second period put the Falcons in front 23-18, but Max Myers made three threes over what remained of the opening half to give LHS a 27-25 halftime advantage.
One of three 3s in first half for Lincoln’s Max Myers.#wvprepbb pic.twitter.com/LIvsgrrlki
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) January 19, 2026
Myers went to the break leading all players with 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting.
Phillips and Waites combined for 35 of their team’s 47 second-half points.
Phillips led all players with 29 points on 11-for-21 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.
“We did a good job on him in the first half. In the second half, we were in help late, not in help and it’s hard to stop him 1-on-1,” Toth said. “He’s their guy that can get buckets and that’s what he did.”
Waites scored 15 of his 19 points after halftime and added seven boards.
Myers and Vincent led Lincoln with 17 points apiece and AJ Bart scored 11.