On a night where their offense was not up to its usual dominance, Lincoln relied on its defense in the end to preserve a win. Clinging to a 52-51 lead with two seconds left, the Abes’ Tre’Shaun Fletcher blocked Brandell Evans’ shot and corralled the ball in the air, handing Lincoln the 3A district title on Feb. 18 at the ShoWare Center in Kent.
“It was a tough shooting night for us, but we had to battle on defense,” said Lincoln head coach Aubrey Shelton. “The third or fourth quarter, especially toward the end down the stretch, we got the stops when we needed to. I’m very proud of our guys, that we were able to gut out a win when our offense was off.”
Fletcher was the primary target of the packed-in Timberline defense all game, but still managed to lead the way with 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Abes. But Timberline got off to a quick start in the first quarter, taking an 8-2 lead five minutes into the first quarter on a jumper by Donaven Dorsey – who led the Blazers with 25 points. The Abes, meanwhile, started the game 0-for-10 from the field.
“We didn’t expect them to come out like that, and we came out kind of slow,” Fletcher said. “We just did what we had to do to get the win.”
Lincoln trailed 12-10 after the first quarter, and Fletcher helped keep them close by scoring nine points in the second quarter, including a three-pointer with 40 seconds left to cut it to 26-25 at the break.
Tied 34-34 midway through the third, the Abes turned up the defensive pressure, as Ahmaad Rorie’s steal led to a dunk by Fletcher, and Latravion Satterwhite followed that with a steal and dish to Ar’Mond Davis for an easy layup to give the Abes a 40-37 lead. But Timberline stormed back behind Dorsey, who scored 15 points in the second half and gave the Blazers a 49-48 lead with a layup with 2:43 left in the game. Rorie – who had been relatively quiet to that point – answered with a three-pointer a minute later to regain the lead at 51-49. And Fletcher, who had struggled from the free-throw line in the contest, hit a key free throw with 18 seconds left to give Lincoln a 52-51 lead after battling for a rebound inside.
“We need him inside against that zone (defense),” said Shelton of Fletcher. “He was getting the ball (against) two or three guys at a time, and he was getting rebounds in there. He had to battle. I’m really proud of his leadership.”
Rorie finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals for Lincoln, while Davis added 10 points.
“Three weeks ago, we would have probably just laid down and let them get the win, but it’s good to see that we wanted to fight through the adversity and get the win,” Fletcher said. “We knew it was not going to be easy tonight.”
The win sets the Abes up with a regional showdown against Columbia River at Mount Tahoma High School on Feb. 23 at 6 p.m.
By Jeremy Helling