The large crowd had filed in and the college coaches had taken their spots along the baseline. Electricity filled the Baruch College ARC Arena.
The match-up everyone wanted to see after last year’s state Federation tournament – AA winner Lincoln against A title-holder Jamesville-DeWitt (N.Y.), Lance Stephenson against Brandon Triche, arguably the state’s two best scorers – was ready to tip off, just three hours south of Glens Falls, the site of the yearly state championship.
When it was over, however, those in attendance left wanting that same match-up – last March. Lincoln, clearly, isn’t the same. After a slow start – Jamesville-DeWitt was stuck on one point halfway through the first quarter – the Red Rams breezed to a 73-63 victory in the sixth annual High School Invitational.
Built like a football team one through five, Jamesville-DeWitt out-rebounded Lincoln 48-43 and forced 25 turnovers. Alshawn Hymes led the way with 28 points, Triche added 20 and Dajuan Coleman, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound mountain of a freshman, had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“We knew they were a good team, one of the best in the state – actually I think they were No. 1 – so we looked at it as a big game,” said Triche, a Syracuse recruit built like a locomotive. “This game will really help us nationally.”
Stephenson managed just 15 points, shooting 5-of-17 from the field, to go along with eight rebounds, five steals and four assists. Maryland-bound power forward James Padgett had 13 points and seven rebounds. Shaquille Stokes and Codion Becker each scored 14 points, but totaled 11 turnovers, seven by Stokes, the sophomore transfer from St. Patrick’s (New Jersey).
“We’re gonna live with them or die with them,” Lincoln coach Dwayne (Tiny) Morton said.
Of course, it didn’t help that shooting guard Darwin (Buddha) Ellis went scoreless, missing all six of his shots.
The game got away from the Railsplitters (9-5) late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter as Stephenson was curiously quiet. An 11-2 run, culminated by six consecutive points from Triche, enabled Jamesville-DeWitt (14-0) to build an insurmountable 11-point cushion, 58-47. Lincoln, unable to contain the Red Rams in the paint or the perimeter, got no closer than seven the rest of the way.
“I think it was our effort,” Stephenson said. “We played bad defense.”
Stephenson said he wasn’t aggressive in the second half because he wasn’t getting the ball in the right spots, enabling Jamesville-DeWitt’s well-timed double teams bottle him up. Of course, he usually finds his shots no matter the defense.
“He’s a little bit upset,” Ellis said. “He feels he has to do it all himself.”
Lincoln has now lost five games, not a number the Railsplitters are used to seeing at this point in the season. Then again, the Coney Island school doesn’t usually lack of confidence. The road doesn’t get much easier. Monday, they face nationally ranked LeFlore (Mobile, Ala.) and DeMarcus Cousins in the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass.
“We got to win,” Morton said, “against a good (team).”
