City of Basketball Love

Tyler Sandora (@tyler_sandora)
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Even though Emeuel Charleston had missed four 3-pointers in three quarters, two of which were airballs, the Abraham Lincoln senior’s confidence wasn’t deterred.

Dubbed the “shooter” of the team by head coach Al Brown, Charleston -- the seventh man in the rotation -- tries to never lets a bad shooting day mess with his mindset.

When the Railsplitters trailed by three with 20 seconds left in regulation of a PIAA 6A state second-round game against Hempfield, the Railsplitters needed a 3-pointer to keep their season alive.

Enter Charleston.

Sanhei Day found the 5-foot-11 sharpshooter across the court, and Charleston nailed the game-tying shot. After two overtimes, both of which Charleston played a vital role in, Lincoln pulled out the win, 65-55, advancing to the state quarterfinals for the first time in school history.

“My coach always tells me, if it’s a make or a miss, keep shooting,” Charleston said. “No hesitation.”

“When he’s on the court, his job is to shoot the ball,” Brown said. “Everybody on the team knows that. They look at him and they want him to shoot the ball.

“We don’t worry about him missing one, just tell him to keep shooting. We know he can hit the next one, and that’s what he did. He hit a big one to send it into overtime. The rest is history.”

Charleston ended with seven points on the day, with the big 3-pointer being his first points on the day. Khalif Meares led with 15, and Day added 14. Jahi Randall scored 11 before fouling out in overtime.  

After Charleston's three went down, Hempfield had an opportunity to win it with 10 seconds remaining, but the Knights turned it over and never got a shot up.

In the first overtime, Charleston forced a jump ball with 14 seconds left, giving possession back to Lincoln. When the Railsplitters inbounded, he passed to Meares, who was fouled. But Meares only made one, which left the lead at three, and gave Hempfield the ball.

That ended up being enough time for the Knights to make things a little more interesting. Hempfield senior Anthony Alston nailed a shot that seemingly hung in the air forever with two seconds left, which sent the game into double overtime, tied at 53.

“I’m like, ‘oh no we might be in trouble,’” Meares admitted. “But we kept our composure and played that good defense we play.”

In the second overtime, it was all Lincoln.

The Railsplitters won the final period by a score of 12-2, thanks to clutch free throw shooting from Charleston and Meares. Charleston hit two free throws at the beginning of the extra four minutes, and Meares hit seven.

After Hempfield’s star Ryan Moffat fouled out at the end of the first overtime, the Knights had trouble getting any sort of offense going. The 6-5 senior had 18 points before finding the bench, and had been the main source of offense for Hempfield. In some cases, the ball was barey brought over half-court before it was stolen by the tantalizing defense of Lincoln.

“Emotions were running high,” Brown said. “At one point it looked like it was over. My guys kept on fighting, and they made the plays they need to make. We were able to get out of here with that win.”

Lincoln also dealt with some foul trouble of its own. Starters Tyree Corbett, Shikier Morrison, and Randall all fouled out in the first overtime, and 6-7 sophomore big man Aseem Lucky was nearing the limit. But reserves like Charleston and Day were able to come in and  help gut out the win.

“No giving up, man,” Charleston said. “We’re fighters at the end of the day. Both good teams, but we got away with the win.

“The guys that fouled out picked the team up,” Brown said. “When it was [the substitutes] turn to step up in the lead, they did it.”

This is Lincoln’s third impressive win a row, dating back to the District 12 championship title over Catholic League-power Roman Catholic. In the first round of states, the Railsplitters dismantled Upper Darby, 67-46.

“We’re coming for any team that steps in our way,” Charleston said. “We’ve been the underdogs. After we played Roman, [we heard], ‘Roman wasn’t focused.’ We don’t let that bring down our game. End of the day, we just play.”

Lincoln will take on Neshaminy in the quarterfinals on Saturday, at a site and time to be determined. Led by Chris Arcidiacono’s 53-point performance, Neshaminy took down Lower Merion in the second round on Wednesday.  

As Lincoln has gone on this historic run as of late, the confidence of the team -- up and down the whole roster -- is getting higher and higher. And no better time than now, when each game will continue to get more and more difficult.

“Our guys don’t see faces or names,” Brown said. “All we do is come out and take care of what we can take care of. Every game is tough in states, so no cake walks.

“Their confidence is through the roof right now. They’re ready for the next opponent.”