San Diego High School Basketball : Lincoln’s Small Team Wins Big

Lincoln High School has the tallest basketball team in the City Central League, but when the Hornets fell behind Christian Tuesday, 19-12, Lincoln Coach Ron Loneski looked to his shorter players.

With the smaller lineup, Lincoln moved ahead, 28-26, by halftime and, held on for a 67-51 victory at Christian. Lincoln (4-0, 11-5) gained sole possession of first place in the City Central League.

“I feel any one of my kids could start for any team in this league, and I’m not afraid to play them,” Loneski said. “That enables us to go with a big team or a smaller, quicker team. In the second quarter, we took our big guys out and put in our pressing team.”

Christian (3-1, 13-5) slowed the tempo in the first period, passing inside to 6-foot 5-inch sophomore Darryl White for six of his nine points, to take an 18-10 lead.

With guard Frank Edmond, and brothers Ellison and Kenny Hawkins inserted into the lineup, the Lincoln defense forced five second-quarter turnovers.

“We didn’t handle the ball real well in the middle of the court,” Christian Coach Randy Wright said. “We allowed them to get back into the game.”

In the third quarter, Christian led for the last time, 35-34, on David Jeremiah’s jumper with 2:10 left.

Lincoln’s taller players then took over, scoring the next 10 points. Senior guard Ken Thompson (6-5) scored six and junior center Roger Johnson (6-6) added four.

Christian attempted a fourth-quarter comeback, but Johnson blocked five shots and Thompson scored 10 of his game-high 24 points to ensure the victory. Johnson finished with 14 points, 9 blocks and 7 rebounds.