Lincoln Strikes Early to Beat Fresno San Joaquin Memorial

Maybe there was a message in that Lincoln High started a freshman against Fresno San Joaquin Memorial in the first round of the Southern California championships.

Something to the effect of we’ve seen the scouting report, and we’re not impressed.

The trip down from Fresno was long. The drive back will be even longer. Lincoln won 59-48.

The Hornets (21-3) move on to the semifinals.

This one was over early. Shondell Robinson hit a three-pointer three seconds into the game and--guess what?--Lincoln never looked back.

With 2 minutes 20 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, Lincoln held a 21-2 lead.

Robinson had 15 points--including nine on three-pointers--in the game’s first eight minutes. She finished with 27.

The final score cloaks what was a blowout for the first three quarters. Lincoln was sent to the free throw line 20 times in the final eight minutes and made only 11 attempts.

San Joaquin Memorial, meanwhile, was exploiting Lincoln’s bench and had its best quarter, scoring 20 points.

Still, it was too little, too late.

Lincoln finished the first quarter with a 13-point lead. The second quarter ended with a similar advantage as Lincoln lacked it’s original intensity.

“I guess we got a little lackadaisical,” Shondell Robinson said. “Because we were ahead by so much.”

But that’s not to say Lincoln quit. San Joaquin Memorial guard Leslie Newmeier had four clear breakaways during the game. On everyone, a Lincoln defender caught up and snuffed out the layout attempt.

Afterward, Lincoln players wouldn’t tout their superior speed, but instead talked about their work ethic.

“We work pretty hard in practice,” Robinson said. “And we feel nobody can hang with us because of how hard we do work.”

Only one other Lincoln player finished in double figures; Channel Edwards scored 12 points.