Lincoln boys show life in second half, but fall to Cleveland in 3A consolation

All Aubrey Shelton wanted his Lincoln High School boys basketball team to do was show some life.

He wanted the same effort the Abes demonstrated in its undefeated run through the 3A Narrows League and its unbeaten home streak. Or the effort that led to their first trip to the 3A state tournament in three years.

It took the Abes trailing by 20 points in the third quarter before they finally stepped up.

Only it wasn’t enough to overcome the rough first half. Lincoln’s season ended with a 74-69 loss to Cleveland — its second loss to a Seattle school in two days — on Friday in the first round of consolation games.

“I don’t know if anybody on our team was really ready to play,” Shelton said. “But I thought everybody played in the second half. They played their butts off.”

Brandon Cotton led Lincoln (21-6) with 21 points and Trevante Anderson scored 11.

But Cleveland scored 42 points in the first half, making 15 of 25 shots (60 percent). It pushed its lead to 50-30 with 5:54 remaining in the third quarter.

“I just wanted them to play hard,” Shelton said.

Lincoln stormed back, using a 21-6 run stretching into the fourth quarter to pull to within 56-51.

Senior guard Trevion Brown didn’t start the game because Shelton said he was late to a team shootaround. But he hit two free throws and Cotton followed with a bucket to cut the lead to 72-69 with less than a minute to play.

“We started cruising,” second-year Cleveland coach Jerry Petty said. “And we felt like the game was over. That’s just a learning experience for my guys that the game is never over.”

But then C.J. Elleby sucked that newfound life right back out of Lincoln.

The 6-foot-6 sophomore attacked from the right wing and converted a windmill left-handed layup over the outstretched arms of Lincoln’s Willie Thomas to put Cleveland back up by two scores. Brown missed a deep 3-pointer on the other end for Lincoln.

Elleby scored 16 points for the Eagles, who clinched their first state trophy since 2004.

“Half of the time I’m not even running plays for C.J.,” Petty said. “C.J.’s just like, ‘I haven’t touched the ball in a while, I’m going to get the rebound and put it back up.’ He’s great to coach and somebody who two years down the line is going to be a great kid.”

It was Lincoln’s second loss to Cleveland, after also losing 71-67 on Dec. 12 — the Abes’ first loss of the season.

“We got to the Dome,” Shelton said. “It was a good year overall. It just didn’t end the way we would have liked to.

“But our young guys gained experience of what it takes to be a team and be positive and get everybody on board. We got some good pieces coming back and I’m looking forward to the future.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Lincoln boys show life in second half, but fall to Cleveland in 3A consolation."