HIGH SCHOOLS : Roundup : Lincoln Appears to Be Title Contender Again After Rout of Madison

It was only the third game of the season for each team, in an informal round-robin tournament at Madison High School, but Lincoln’s 99-79 victory over Madison Wednesday night in the Norseman/Warhawk tournament gives an indication that Lincoln has picked up where it left off.

Lincoln (3-0) lost in the title game of the state Division III tournament last season with a team that combined size, speed, quickness and adept shooting. This season’s version, with only three regulars back, doesn’t appear to be much different.

With 6-foot 8-inch Aaron Wilhite scoring 36 points and grabbing 20 rebounds and 6-6 Hoover transfer Daryl McMillan adding 18 points and 8 rebounds, talented but inexperienced Madison (2-1) couldn’t keep up.

The teams played even through a sloppy first quarter that had a total of 17 turnovers. As things settled down, Madison nosed to a 31-30 lead with 5 minutes to play in the half. Madison’s Robby Robinson, an all-county player as a junior on a team that went to the state Division II semifinals last season, scored 12 first-half points but also picked up 4 fouls.

Robinson drew his third foul with 5 minutes left in the half and his fourth with 4:03 remaining and Lincoln leading, 36-33. Exit Robinson to the bench, enter a 15-5 Lincoln run that made it 51-38 at halftime.

“I thought that hurt them when Robby got into foul trouble,” Lincoln Coach Ron Loneski said. “That took them out of their game. Our press took them out of their game, too.”

Lincoln put the game away with a 29-18 third quarter as Wilhite scored 10 points and McMillan 8.

Robinson, a 6-6 swingman, played the entire second half with 4 fouls. Madison Coach Jim Thompson moved him to guard, a position at which he excelled last year, and he scored 22 points, mostly from the outside or on the fast break, to finish with 34. Brad Eaddy, the 6-4 Madison post player who also had first-half foul problems, scored 14 points, as did Mark Bohannon.

“We did a lot of good things and we did a lot of horrible things,” Loneski said. “Aaron played a heck of a game. Daryl (a junior) is going to get better and better. He’s going to be a tremendous player.

“I think our team has the potential to go back to state. We set goals as we go along. We’re going after our fourth (City) Central League title. We take it one at a time. I know in the back of their minds, Aaron and Joe (Temple) want to go back to state. They feel with Daryl, they can win it.”

In another tournament game:

Clairemont 79, Montgomery 33--Ray McDavid only played two quarters and still led Clairemont (2-2) with 20 points. Montgomery dropped to 0-4.