Senior guard Addie McGinnis has been a key player as North Lincoln High’s girls have gotten back into a winning mode. They are the No. 6 seed for the South Fork 2A tournament that begins on Tuesday night and play at No. 3 Newton-Conover at 6;30 p.m./NORTH LINCOLN PHOTO
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
LINCOLNTON – As he sat in the gym lobby after another recent victory by his North Lincoln High girls, head coach Mark Lackey was quick to point out a big reason the Knights have been winning.
He pointed to his left — where senior guard Addie McGinnis sat — and repeated something he’d heard from his own high school basketball coach so many years ago.
“Ya know, they talk about the straw that stirs the drink,” Lackey said. “Right there’s the straw. She gets us started offensively and defensively … she’s my little playmaker.
DETERMINED KNIGHTS
With senior guard Addie McGinnis playing a vital role, North Lincoln High’s girls basketball team is quickly getting back on track under head coach Mark Lackey, who is in his first season after last coaching the Knights in 2007-08. A look at the Knights’ last five seasons:
Season Record
2013-14 0-25
2014-15 0-24
2015-16 4-21
2016-17 2-21
2017-18 10-12
Note: North Lincoln once had a 52-game losing streak, falling in the final two games of the 2012-13 season, lost 49 over the next two seasons, and losing its opener 2015-16 before snapping the streak with an overtime win over West Lincoln.
SOURCE: HobbsDailyReport.com research and files.
Mark Lackey, who was inspired to become a coach by his own former basketball coach, Kelly Childers at West Lincoln High, has made progress this season as his North Lincoln girls have won 10 games./NORTH LINCOLN PHOTO
“She keeps the spirit up on the team. She’s the one that pays the most attention to doing the things to get everybody else where they should be.”
That the Knights are where they now are – they went 4-10 in the South Fork 2A to finish in sixth place and they’re a modest 10-12 overall — has been gratifying (and fun) for McGinnis.
North Lincoln plays at third-seeded Newton-Conover (14-10) in a conference tournament opener on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m., and that well could be the final game for McGinnis, who averages 10.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.
But win, lose or draw on Tuesday, McGinnis and the Knights have taken another big step in an only-by-hard-work transition.
Two years ago, the Knights went 4-21, then 2-21 the next. And dating back to the four seasons before Lackey returned as head coach this season, North Lincoln went 6-91. At one point, until they beat West Lincoln in overtime in the second game of the 2015-16 season, the Knights had lost 52 straight games.
“It’s been three years coming,” said McGinnis after a 66-41 home victory over Bandys last Friday night that gave the Knights their first season sweep of the Trojans.
McGinnis recalled a specific night when her supporters encouraged her that her time – and also the Knights’ – would come. It was on a night in 2014 when Bandys won 81-19, and the year before the Trojans won 89-11 at North Lincoln with the clock, per a request by the North Lincoln coach, never stopping over approximately the game’s final 14 minutes.
“They said ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance one day,’” McGinnis said.
The road was long, with a lot of bumps, but McGinnis has enjoyed the ride.
“I’ve been playing basketball since I was a little girl and it’s been tough – the losing part – but we’ve turned that around … we know that,” she said. “We came out our Senior Night and made something of ourselves – we got that win.
“Coach (Lackey) has always told us he’ll give us the tools to win but winning comes from the team. We’re playing more team ball… we’re a team now. We know how to win.”
The Knights pretty much have to win the conference tournament to get into the state 2A playoffs, but even if they don’t McGinnis believes the table for more success has been set.
“We’re graduating eight seniors and that’s gonna be tough, and we’ll be building a team” she said, peering into next season. “I just hope the girls stick with it.”