City champs! Shareef-Dulaney, Lincoln hang on to beat Bellarmine for third time
They say it's hard to beat the same team three times in one season. For Lincoln High School's boys basketball team, that rang true against Bellarmine Prep in the 3A Puget Sound League tournament championship game at the University of Puget Sound Logger Memorial Fieldhouse on Saturday night.
The Lions never went away, but ultimately the talent of Lincoln's young roster won out. Lincoln denied Bellarmine a clean look at the basket on the final possession and hung on for the 55-53 win.
In particular, rising freshman star Davion Shareef-Dulaney — who is well on his way to becoming one of the state's best players, if he isn't there already — showcased his enviable skill set, pouring in a game-high 19 points.
'It feels good,' Shareef-Dulaney told The News Tribune after the win. 'We've been talking about this all week. We've been putting in the work every practice to get here and play.'
Lincoln now leads the season series 3-1 against Bellarmine.
'We know all their stuff,' Shareef-Dulaney said. 'It looked like they didn't know our stuff, so it looked good. We just kept playing through it and playing as a team.'
Lincoln led 12-2 after the first quarter but Bellarmine quickly found its footing and cut the deficit to a point by halftime. Birk Johnston led the Lions with 15 and sharpshooter J.J. Bordeaux added 12. For Lincoln, guards Trey Collier and O'Shea Lamar added 12 apiece.
Lincoln enters the postseason with a 21-3 record and has the pieces to make a deep state tournament run at the Tacoma Dome with its young nucleus. Shareef-Dulaney, who is playing beyond his years, said he just tries to treat every game the same.
'Feels just like AAU,' he said. 'Just another game. I just think of it like you're just in your own world sometimes. … We're playing with a lot of confidence.'
The game was well attended and the UPS Fieldhouse was a fitting venue for playoff high school basketball. The Fieldhouse has hosted district basketball tournaments in the past before the school's athletic administration paused hosting the events and distanced itself from the high school scene.
A Tacoma Public Schools administrator on hand Saturday night thanked the athletic department for hosting the games. Perhaps, hopefully, Saturday's games will mark a permanent return to the preps scene for the Tacoma university.
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