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Lincoln showcases depth in Schott Tournament win over Truman

12/29/2017, 11:00pm EST
By Rich Flanagan

Rich Flanagan (@richflanagan33)
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PHILADELPHIA-From a philosophy standpoint, Al Brown is similar to other basketball coaches. The Abraham Lincoln High School head coach calls out plays on offense and changes defenses on the fly based on what the opponent is trying to do.

What separates him from others is his ability to trust all of his players to get the job done. He displays that trust by substituting his entire starting lineup for an entirely new one at any point in the game. Putting in a new lineup could potentially halt momentum or throw off the rhythm that his team has but Brown isn’t worried about that. He’s instilled that confidence in this group.

“Early on, we’ve been preaching teamwork and getting the individual work out of their game,” Brown said. “We want them to trust each other. At the end of the day, we’re only as strong as our weakest link. It’s about strength in numbers.”

Brown’s belief in his players led to eight different players scoring at least one bucket in the Railsplitters 70-53 victory over Harry S. Truman to claim the Jack Schott Memorial Holiday Tournament title at Holy Ghost Prep.

Lincoln was paced by senior guard Khalif Meares who scored seven of his game-high 21 points in the opening quarter including a three-pointer that put his team up 10-2 midway through.

Meares, a member of last year’s Lincoln team that helped the program win its first-ever PIAA state playoff game, runs the point for Brown’s offense and helps set up the slashing ability of backcourt mate Shikier Morrison, who finished with 13 points and five rebounds. It was evident from the start that the senior backcourt has command over the offense and that helped fuel an early run.

Even with the momentum in his favor, Brown input a new lineup beginning with All-Public League National Division Honorable Mention Emeuel Charleston, Aseem Lucky, Carl Jefferson, Sahnei Day and Paul Lewis. Meares and the rest of the starters have never had an issue with the system.

“We have a heavy bench. Everybody works and does their job,” Meares said. “We just want to give everyone a chance to do what they can do to get to that next level.”

Lewis scored six straight points after being inserted into the game. Charleston posted 15 points including five consecutive to finish off an 11-3 run for the Railsplitters (6-2) that closed out the third quarter and added four steals. Day chipped in five boards, three assists and a steal. Lucky had six rebounds and three blocks and Jefferson applied strong defense.

Brown’s interchangeable lineups gave Truman (5-1) fits for much of the game. In the second quarter with Lincoln leading 26-17, Terrance Rogers (nine points on 4-16 shooting) hit a runner in the lane. Morrison made a quick answer with a difficult and-one finish. Later in the quarter, Treszon Chapman converted an and-one of his own to cut the deficit to eight. Charleston swiped the ball from Rogers on the next possession and finished at the other end then guard Saleh El nailed a floater to push the lead to 35-23 with under a minute until halftime.

Despite contributions from juniors Zierr Reid (nine points) and Javeer Peterson (seven points, six boards), the Tigers could not close the Railsplitters double-digit deficit in the second half and the depth of a seasoned Lincoln team coming off a final six finish in the Philadelphia Public League, a tough PIAA 6A District 12 title loss to Roman Catholic and a second-round appearance in the state tournament wore down their opponent.

Meares said working to bring the team closer together after the loss of First Team selection Nassir Coleman and Honorable Mention Marlon Sharpton was a major key to making Brown’s scheme a reality.

“We’re just focusing on getting better,” Meares said. “When the season was over, we realized we made a couple of mistakes and we worked hard all summer. We really worked on being a team and to do everything we need to go further.”

Brown, the 2017 National Division Coach of the Year, is proud of the way the team has responded to the frequent lineup alterations and feels it’s fueling his team’s drive from not achieving what they set out to last year.

“That says that a lot of them are being unselfish,” Brown said. “It’s selfless basketball. A lot of times they have to take a little of their game and put it on the backburner for the betterment of the team. They sacrifice a little of their game for the team, basically.”

“We had a little taste of success last year since it was the first time Lincoln had gone to the state playoffs in I don’t know how long. We just said to the guys it all starts with them. The program is building but it all starts with them now.”

Kuypers, Robinson help CB South rebound with win over Holy Ghost

Junior forward Tommy Kuypers netted 14 points and grabbed five rebounds while senior guard Nate Robinson added 11 points and six boards to help propel Central Bucks South to a 57-51 victory over the host Firebirds.

Kuypers scored six straight points in the third which pushed the lead to 40-30 heading into the final quarter. Robinson hit five free throws in the fourth to help the Titans (5-2) close things out. Junior forward Ian McCaw came off the bench to score 13 points and added five rebounds.

After McCaw’s bucket inside made the score 22-14 in the second, Holy Ghost (4-5) rode Sean Sylvester (16 points, seven rebounds) for the rest of that quarter. The 6-5 junior forward hit three foul shots and converted two mid-range jumpers on the Firebirds final four possessions before halftime. The only problem was during that stretch Alex Dietz hit his only two shots of the game, both from behind the arc with the second increasing the lead to 10.

Early in the fourth, Jack Elliot, who finished with 12 points of his own, made a strong drive to the rim and cut the lead to 41-33. Later, Elliott nailed a pair of free throws then Greg Sylvester recorded a steal and a layup to slim the advantage to 48-41 with 1:39 left.

From there, it was Robinson’s clutch free-throw shooting as well one from McCaw and two from guard Cole Prezelski which sealed the Titans victory.


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