Abraham Lincoln dominated George Westinghouse 67–49 in Brooklyn AA boys’ basketball on Jan. 21, avenging a first-ever loss to Westinghouse back in December. The history-making upset late last year encouraged Lincoln to never repeat the mistake.
“Easy motivation, those guys got a lot of pride,” said Railsplitters coach Dwayne “Tiny” Morton. “They were kind of embarrassed losing, and they’ve got pride.”
Senior Cahiem Brown and junior Donald Cannon Flores led the Railsplitters with 18-point performances. Lincoln used a cohesive effort to jump on the Warriors early and never look back — and it led by double-digits for most of the second half.
“Just great teamwork,” said Brown about his team’s performance. “We all clicked with each other, and when everybody gets going … we’re unstoppable.”
Lincoln (8–5) began the game on a 10–1 run. The Warriors (9–4) didn’t make a basket from the field until under four minutes into the game, and Lincoln jumped out to a 21–12 lead after one frame.
Sophomore guard Tyler Bourne was hot early. The crafty guard was able to break out in transition and score with ease for much of the quarter. He added a pair of three-pointers to give him 11 points in the first quarter.
Things took a bizarre turn with 4:04 remaining in the half, as a piece of the court near the baseline came loose during play. Officials hammered it back into place, causing an eight-minute delay. Both teams closed the quarter on sloppy notes, but Lincoln led 30-23 at the break.
The lead grew to 41–29 midway through the third quarter. However a short, 8–2 Westinghouse run put it within six points with a little more than two minutes remaining.
Lincoln was not about to give up control. Flores took over by scoring 11 of his 18 points in the final frame. He was able to attack the basket with ease, helping the Railsplitters out-score the Warriors 19–10 in the fourth.
“Coach just told us to keep attacking … and try to and get them in foul trouble,” said Flores. “So that’s what I did.”
Brown, Bourne, and Flores combined for 51 of Lincoln’s 67 points that night, with junior Rakym Felder adding seven points of his own.
Lincoln’s stars excelled, but Westinghouse’s top scorers struggled. Damarri Moore and Gerald Williams netted only eight points each, and Akeem Tate added 10. Arsheen Jones led the way for Westinghouse with 13 points on the night, but the Warriors never got into a rhythm on either end. The loss could cost the Warriors a second-place finish.
“They were beating us on energy early,” said Westinghouse coach Everett Kelley. “When we get into these games, we start looking to get it all on offense, and not getting it on defense.”