Lincoln Gets Payback; Wins SMARTBall Chip

NEW YORK, NY - With Youth Education Through Sports (Y.E.S.) board member and NBA legend Len Elmore and other notables in attendance, the championship game of the SMARTBall Classic got underway on Thursday at Abe Lincoln Park in Harlem. The combatants were Boys & Girls and Abraham Lincoln high schools but for one team, the pain was deep.

Lincoln ended their regular season at the hands of their Brooklyn rivals and for the Railsplitters, it was time to avenge their upset loss in the PSAL playoffs. "We needed payback for the quarterfinals last year," said guard Donald Cannon-Flores '16. Though the game was anything but pretty, Cannon-Flores would give an MVP performance (20 points & 2 assists) propelling Lincoln to a 62-60 overtime win.

Boys & Girls looked as if they were going to continue where they left off last season. Bruising forward Charles Sprowal '17 (9 points & 5 rebounds) and 6'8" Jaquan Lightfoot '16 (22 points & 10 rebounds) helped Boys & Girls take a slight lead in the opening quarter. Point guard Gianni Ford (10 points & 1 assist) put the High on top 9-6 with 3 minutes.

Turnovers hurt Lincoln and Lightfoot took advantage putting Boys up 12-6. Jahlil Tripp (18 points & 7 rebounds) finally put up points for Lincoln but Nehemiah Boone '16 (6 points, 2 assists & 1 rebound) countered. 17-10 Boys & Girls after 1 quarter.

Cahiem Brown (13 points & 6 rebounds) ended his drought at the top of the second quarter for Lincoln but Spowal bullied his way in to keep the Roos up by seven. Boys & Girls pushed the pace at every opportunity and exploited the Railsplitters when they tried to trap.

The score was 27-14 with 4:15 as Boone scored in transition. Jamir Cheeks '16 (6 points & 3 rebounds) drained a trey and Lincoln was in the hole by 14 points. Ford netted a bucket on Tripp to push the lead even further. The game clearly became personal as both teams and their respective fans became more and more heated.

Late in the second, Lincoln made a push and cut their deficit to 9 points but Boys & Girls maintained a 37-25 lead at the half.

Cannon-Flores drained a three and pulled Lincoln back to within 9 and Brown scored a putback and drew a foul plus dunk in transition on the following possession after defensive stops by the Railsplitters. Boys & Girls were now clinging to a 37-34 with 5:45.

Tripp joined in what would be a 9-0 run and Lincoln would only be down 2. Point guard Tyler Bourne '18 (4 points & 3 assists) soon tied the game at 38 with a layup and Boys High burned another time out to try to regroup.

Kyrie Johnson '16 (2 points & 6 rebounds) gave Lincoln their first lead with 3:15 off a putback as the Kangaroos inexplicably abandoned their first half uptempo formula for success. Their inside/out play was also non-existent as Lightfoot virtually disappeared on the boards.

Cannon-Flores increased Lincoln's lead to 44-38 off back to back layups and the Railsplitters were ahead by six to start the fourth quarter.

A steal by Ford gave Boys & Girls a glimmer of life. The Roos started diving for loose balls and with 6:18 remaining, Lincoln only had to a 44-40 advantage.

Lightfoot, whose overall effort earned him the Sportmanship award, got his second wind and cut Railsplitters lead to 1 point with 4:30. The Roos then took a 51-50 lead. Brown got to the line but went 1 of 2 and it was 50 all going into the home stretch. Lightfoot powered up and scored but Tripp countered and the game would go into overtime knotted at 53.

Boys High took an early lead but Sprowal fouled out and Tripp regained a 1 point lead for the Railsplitters. The lead changed hands as both teams battled inside and got to the line.

The end-game scenario was hauntingly similar to last season's PSAL quarterfinals. With less than a minute left to play and tied at 60, it would all come down to freethrows, inbound passes and missed opportunities but this time Bourne drained freethrows, Ford fell short on a game winning buzzer beater and Abraham Lincoln would take home the championship hardware.

One disappointed Boys & Girls Kangaroos fan said after the game, "[Lincoln] just wanted it more."