Lincoln Massacres Canarsie
Canarsie should be given some credit. The Chiefs managed to hang with a spitting mad NYC Hoops #2 Lincoln team for a whole first quarter in the Coney Island team's gym.
In the second quarter, the Railsplitters outscored Canarsie 29-3. That's near all one needs to know about Lincoln's 82-35 annihilation of the Chiefs on Thursday night.
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Following a loss to Boys & Girls – in which they gave back a 16-point third quarter lead – on Tuesday, the Railsplitters were out for blood in their PSAL finale. For the latter three quarters against the overmatched Chiefs, Lincoln showed no mercy, scoring in every conceivable way and wreaking havoc with its defensive quickness.
Canarsie, behind some inspired play from guard Vincent Mattos, kept the game tight early. Mattos drained a three to put the Chiefs up 5-3, and then canned another with 27 seconds left in the first quarter to knot the game at 12-12.
Lance Stephenson dropped in a jump hook to put Lincoln up two to start the second, but Canarsie forward Elon Howard answered with a pair of free throws to make it 14-14. The Railsplitters scored five straight to go up five, then Yves Jules split two free throws at the 5:58 mark to bring Canarsie within four at 19-15.
At that point, Lincoln went on a 22-0 run to finish the half. Canarsie never was closer than 22 down from then on.
Stephenson paced Lincoln with 25 points and added seven rebounds. James Padgett put up 14 and 8 for the Railsplitters as well. Mattos was the lone bright spot for Canarsie, scoring 12 points.
Lincoln head coach Dwayne "Tiny" Morton said that he didn't have to remind his teams of the Boys & Girls defeat after Tuesday night. "I told them nothing," Morton said. "I listened to them speak yesterday in practice, and I knew that they understood the loss."
Thursday's victory was Lincoln's most lopsided win in a season full of them.
"We had fun," said Stephenson. "I think we got our confidence back off of this game."
That confidence might be useful on Saturday night. The Railsplitters, who started the season atop NYC Hoops' Top Ten List, will have a chance to reclaim their perch when they face current NYC Hoops #1 Rice in a dream showdown at the Primetime Shootout in Trenton, N.J.
The game takes place at 8 p.m., as the seventh of eight on Saturday in the weekend-long mega-event.
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