Lincoln’s hot start fizzles in 81-64 loss to Rainier Beach in 3A quarterfinals

The Lincoln High School boys basketball team did everything it wanted in the first quarter.

Play scrappy defense, finish shots, rebound — the Abes were playing like they had nothing to lose with a Tacoma crowd behind them against second-ranked Rainier Beach of Seattle.

Only there’s a reason that Rainier Beach has made the Tacoma Dome its home away from home.

Sam Cunliffe scored a game-high 19 points, helping Beach run away in the second quarter to send Lincoln to the consolation bracket of the 3A state boys basketball tournament with an 81-64 victory on Thursday at the Dome.

“Going into it, I thought we could beat these guys,” Lincoln coach Aubrey Shelton said. “I still think we could have beat these guys.”

Both programs are perennial state contenders. Rainier Beach has reached state 21 times in school history, Lincoln 36. And they’ve combined for 11 state titles (Beach with eight).

But the prides of Seattle and Tacoma had never met in the state tournament until Thursday.

The Abes jumped to a 9-2 lead on a team that has reached the title game each of the past four years — winning three.

Lincoln then led 16-8 … before being outscored 32-12 from then until halftime.

That included a buzzer-beating, near-halfcourt 3-pointer from Marquis Gurski to end the first quarter, cutting Lincoln’s lead to 18-16.

“I think that gave us the adrenaline boost we needed to wake us up,” Rainier Beach coach Mike Bethea said.

Said Rainier Beach’s Keith Smith: “That was actually big because we were kind of sluggish coming out.”

And for Lincoln?

“That was tough,” Shelton said. “We were up five and instead of holding the ball for the last shot we went in early and then they get the chance for that halfcourt shot. Come on now.”

Rainier Beach advances to the semifinals to play Garfield at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the Dome. Lincoln plays Cleveland in an elimination game at 10:30 a.m.

Gurski scored 12 points for Rainier Beach and Keith Smith, an Oregon commit, added 13. Smith missed the Vikings’ run to the state title game with an injury last season. He had last reached the Tacoma Dome with Franklin as a freshman.

“It’s like nothing … we’ve played in big tournaments, but there is something about being in the Dome that’s different from anything,” Smith said.

Lincoln’s Willie Thomas and Dionte Simon got in foul trouble, which only amplified the Abes’ struggles in keeping Rainier Beach off of the boards — especially against the 6-foot-7 Smith, 6-6 Cunliffe (an Arizona State commit) and 6-5 Kevin Porter. Though 6-foot-2 Gurski did plenty of damage, too.

Rainier Beach outrebounded Lincoln, 44-22.

Brandon Cotton led Lincoln with 15 points, Trevion Brown added 14 and Thomas scored 11.

It’s the Abes’ first trip to the Dome since 2013, but to prolong their stay, as the lone representative of Tacoma in the 3A boys tournament, they’ll have to bounce back against another Seattle team.

“We wanted it bad,” Shelton said. “Even at halftime we were still like, ‘We’re still in this thing.’ The guys came out and made a run, and just had too many turnovers and missed layups and free throws, and that was it.

“We didn’t have to play perfect, but we had to play a lot better than we did tonight. … Hopefully we can bounce back.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Lincoln’s hot start fizzles in 81-64 loss to Rainier Beach in 3A quarterfinals."