Stadium tops longtime rival Lincoln in key 3A PCL matchup, hands Abes first league loss
Stadium High School boys basketball built a double-digit lead early in the second half, and held off a late comeback attempt in the fourth quarter to close out a 65-54 win over longtime rival Lincoln on Wednesday night in Tacoma.
The Tigers put up 39 points in a convincing second half, and led by as many as 20, in handing the league-leading Abes their first Class 3A Pierce County League loss this winter.
Stadium’s victory snapped an 11-game league winning streak for Lincoln dating back to last season.
The win was also the first for the Tigers in Tacoma’s longest-running rivalry since 2006.
“Huge for our program, obviously,” Stadium coach Dominic Batten said. “We just want people to know that we are for real. We can compete. And hopefully we’re developing a culture with our guys. We’re sharing the basketball. Guys are playing hard.”
Lincoln had won the past 20 games in the series, including posting a 66-56 win over the Tigers in the first meeting between the two programs this season back in December.
“It’s a big deal,” Stadium senior guard Ne’Quan Brown said. “They beat us the first time this season. We had a bad game. So, it’s a good thing to see how we can come back and improve and play better. That was exciting to see how we came back and performed well.”
Brown and sophomore guard Donovan Gill paced a balanced scoring effort from the Tigers with a team-high 17 points each. Brown completed a double-double with 13 rebounds while adding three assists.
Sophomore guard Baaroc Rivers and junior forward Miles Washington each had 11 points. Rivers also added three assists, while Washington pulled down seven rebounds and had three steals.
The two programs swapped the lead 12 times, and tied the game up six more times during a low scoring, back-and-forth first half.
But, Stadium took what turned out to be the game’s final lead with 1:06 remaining in the second quarter on a basket from Gill.
Four possessions later, Gill banked in a long 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, sending the Tigers into the break with a 26-22 lead.
Lincoln closed the gap to one possession three minutes into the second half on a bucket from ZyZy Sayavong, but Washington answered on Stadium’s next trip up the court, keying a 17-2 run for the Tigers to close out the quarter.
Brown said Stadium’s energy sparked the run.
“Just being excited for the little things, like charges and defensive stops, that type of energy is what leads to momentum and runs,” Brown said. “So, us figuring that out is the difference in us beating them this time. It’s definitely the energy. And that run was definitely all energy and defense for sure.”
Washington pushed the lead to double digits with his second bucket three buckets during the run with 3:15 left in the third — part of a stretch during which Stadium went on a 15-0 stretch before Abes senior forward Omarion Boston answered with a pair of free throws with 1:00 remaining in the quarter — and the Abes never cut the lead to fewer than 12 points after that.
Lincoln didn’t make a shot from the floor for a nearly seven-minute stretch between the third and fourth quarters, and Stadium pushed the lead as high as 20 twice in the final quarter.
After Gill gave the Tigers a 57-37 lead with 4:39 to play, Lincoln rallied with a 17-8 run over the final 4:25, pressuring Stadium on defense and forcing timely turnovers, but Stadium kept the game out of reach.
Boston led the Abes with a game-high 20 points and added 11 rebounds. Junior forward LaVhanta Sandlimg-Green was the only other Lincoln scorer in double figures with 11.
The Abes (12-6) are still in control of the lead in 3A PCL play with an 8-1 league record, while the Tigers (12-4) remain in second at 7-3.
Lincoln has second meetings with Silas, Lakes and Spanaway Lake remaining on the league schedule.
Stadium has 3A PCL matchups with Mount Tahoma and Bonney Lake still to play before the postseason begins.
“We’re thinking of it one by one,” Brown said. “We don’t want to look too far ahead and forget about what’s right in front of us. Right now we’re just worried about one game at a time. … Right now we just want to keep this win streak going.”
