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EspañolEvery year, the noise spills down Interstate 5 from Seattle — about Metro League basketball, the tougher resume, the marquee matchups, 206 pride, who runs the state. Tacoma hears it. On Saturday night, Lincoln High School answered.
Lincoln, the No. 6 seed in the Class 3A state tournament, picked apart No. 2 O’Dea in a 3A state tournament regional round game at Bellevue College on Saturday, stunning the favored Irish in a 71-58 upset win.
If the “2-5-3” chants from the crowd weren’t indication enough, the rowdy Lincoln locker room — which could probably be heard from the parking lot — told the story. Not all wins are created equal. This one meant a little more.
“I feel like just because we’re a Tacoma team and they’re playing Metro, the harder division, they just think they’re all that,” Lincoln star sophomore Davion Shareef-Dulaney said. “We just came to shut them up.”
Lincoln, fresh off the 3A District 3/4 title, stormed out to an early lead and never looked back. O’Dea, which had only lost in-state to No. 1 Rainier Beach this season, looked shellshocked throughout the game.
Sophomore forward Justus Holt, who has been breaking out in the second half of the season and in the postseason, scored a game-high 23 points. Shareef-Dulaney scored 22. Forward Noah Dennis added 10.
O’Dea made a few runs, but Lincoln always had an answer. The final result never felt in doubt.
“The boys executed the game plan,” Lincoln coach Ryan Rogers said. “They knew it was going to be a really tough matchup. Coach (Jason) Kerr, legendary coach, and O’Dea is a super strong opponent.
“We’re glad the team came and rose to the occasion. They wanted this game, and we knew that they could play with them, we just had to put together four quarters, and they did it tonight.”
The biggest reason for the win? The play of Holt and Shareef-Dulaney, Lincoln’s star sophomore combo. Their nickname from Lincoln assistant Andy Nelson?
“Peanut butter and jelly,” Shareef-Dulaney said, smiling. “(Holt is) just amazing, man I’m glad to have him on my team. He does all the little things that people don’t see.”
Senior guard Brian Webster led O’Dea with 16 points. Guard Peyton Brooks added 15. Offense, for the most part, was hard for the Irish to come by.
“Playing physical with them,” Holt said of the defensive gameplan. “Make them put the ball on the ground, play physical.”
The win gives Lincoln a bye into the 3A state tournament quarterfinal round next Thursday at the Tacoma Dome, placing the Abes just a win away from the final four.
“We just know that we know what we do and we’re gonna give everybody our best matchup and our best game and we’re not afraid of anybody,” Rogers said. “We just want to make sure we come out ready to compete.”