Lincoln High St. Louis Shootout

[Ponymon]

This story was published in Sports on Friday, December 7, 2001.

Dallas school shuns sleep after key victory

By Shandel Richardson
Special To The Post-Dispatch

Say this for the Dallas Lincoln High School basketball team: It really wanted to play in the Shootout.

After completing a come-from-behind 74-70 victory over Midwest City (Okla.) Thursday night at Savvis Center, the team went back to its hotel. The players were set to get up for breakfast at 4:30 this morning and take a 7:15 flight back to Dallas, where they will play two more games today.

All this trouble just so two of the nation's top teams could perform in front of the St. Louis fans.

"That's the only way we could do it," said Lincoln coach Leonard Bishop, whose team is generally regarded as one of the top five teams in the country. "We had to schedule it that way if we wanted to play here (in St. Louis) and then get back and play in this other tournament."

Bishop said the team has games today at 1 and 8 p.m., in another tournament, which meant the players have to head straight from the airport to the gym. Not much time for rest.

"We'll probably sleep at the gym," Lincoln center Chris Bosh said.

Point guard Bryan Hopkins added, "Or during the pregame warm-ups."

Lincoln almost went through all the trouble for nothing. It trailed Midwest City by as many as 11 points in the second half before charging back. Down 50-41 after three quarters, Lincoln went on a 14-3 run and took its first lead since early in the game.

Defense proved vital during the stretch. Midwest City had no answer for Lincoln's full-court pressure. It also held Midwest City standout and Duke recruit Shelden Williams to 14 points on four-of-16 shooting.

"Well, we switched our press up," Bishop said. "We usually press after made free throws. But we decided to do it after every made shot."

Lincoln opened its largest lead of the game, 67-58, with 2 minutes 44 seconds left in the game. Bosh, who scored a team-high 24 points, and Hopkins (13 points) were the catalyst in the turnaround.

But Midwest City, behind a late spark from guard De'Angelo Alexander, rallied. Alexander, who scored a team-high 27 points, scored on a breakaway dunk with 29 seconds remaining and cut the lead to three. After a layup from Eric Wallace, Midwest City found itself down 71-70.

But Lincoln, which hit only 14 of 24 free throws, made them when they counted.

"We just missed a couple of loose balls and some rebounds opportunities," Midwest City coach Rodney Dindy said. "You have to be able to finish things and make plays when you're playing against a good team."

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Shootout Results

Parkway South 56 Breese Central 50

Parkway West 43 Parkway Central 42

Freeburg 69 Whitfield 62

Proviso East (Ill.) 64 Gary West Side (Ind.) 61

Tulsa (Okla.) Victory Christian 68 Rockwood Marquette 52

Springfield Lanphier 71 Raleigh (N.C.) Broughton 61

Dallas Lincoln 74 Midwest City (Okla.) 70

Columbia Hickman 65 Orlando Cypress Creek 56