by T. Scott Boatright
Big-time is a team playing in a Marsh Madness contest for a fifth straight year.
And big-time Lincoln Preparatory School earned a berth in the Div. IV Boys Basketball Select School Championship game as the Panthers roared past Central Catholic with a big-time 58-42 win at Marsh Madness inside Barton Coliseum.
And it was a big-time performance from Jabari Levingston leading the way for the Panthers as the sophomore poured in 35 points, accounting for 60% of his team’s offense.
Not that it came easy, especially not at first.
Central Catholic opened with a 7-2 run and led 10-6 with 2:24 left in the first quarter before Levingston hit two more baskets, accounting for Lincoln Prep’s first six points, before the Panthers Trey Spann sank a lay-up and tacked on an extra point to give Lincoln Prep its first lead of the game at 11-10 with 2:23 remaining in the opening stanza.
“I think we’re kind of used to starting off like that because we’ve done that all season long,” said Lincoln Prep coach Antonio Hudson. “In a new location with some kids that had never played there, I just took it like we were just trying to get a feel for it.
“Central Catholic knocked some shots down early, but we responded well. So that was a good thing.”
The Eagles would tie things up at 29-29 at the 4:20 mark of the third quarter, but Lincoln Prep never trailed after Spann gave his squad that first lead of the contest.
By halftime, the Panthers were on top 28-20 with Levingston already having scored 20 points.
“Big-time players make big-time plays,” Hudson said. “The work he’s put in all year is starting to show up now. That’s the way it is for the whole team.”
After Central Catholic tied things up midway through the third quarter, Lincoln Prep went on a 15-5 run the remainder of the stanza to hold a 42-34 lead heading into the final period.
Central Catholic never threatened again as the Panthers scored the opening four points of the final stanza and never relinquished a double-digit advantage from there.
Levingston added seven rebounds, three steals and two assists to his start sheet while Trey Spann added eight points, three boards, three assists and three steals.
“I just went in and played my game,” Levingston said. “The work we put in before the season, during the season — I knew it was going to pay off. Coach Hudson prepared us well and I just trusted in that and went out and did it.”
Josiah Spann finished with five points, three rebounds, two steals, a blocked shot and an assist while Kaden Vernon chipped in with three points, seven steals, six assists, two boards and a blocked shot.
All but three of Lincoln Prep’s points came by attacking the basket.
“That was the game plan,” Hudson said. “If you look at it tonight, we were 1-of-9 from 3-point range. We’ve got to be intentional in taking it to the rim.”
Hudson admitted the Panthers’ defense was key, as it has been all season long.
“If you’ve watched us this year, we’ve played this kind of defense all year,” Hudson said. “I’ve told our local media, we’ve had some good defensive teams in the past, but this team is one of the best defensive teams I’ve had. Give it up to Trey Spann, Zion Hick and Caden Vernon as well. Their numbers may not show on the stat sheet, but they defended.
“Our goal is to keep our opponent to under 40 (points). They got a little over 40, but if we can keep a team under 40 points, then we’ve got a chance to win it.”
Lincoln Prep will now host sixth-seeded Southern Lab at noon Friday for the state championship.
Hudson knows the same kind of defense will be needed.
“We’ll need it against Southern Lab,” Hudson said. “Southern Lab shot the lights out yesterday. We’ve got to make sure we’re in the gaps and they’re not shooting routine 3-pointers.”
That won’t be the first time a Grambling High School has faced Southern Lab in Marsh Madness action.
Southern Lab defeated Grambling Lab in the 2000 Class 1A title game and Grambling Lab won state titles in 1985, 1989, 1990 and 1992.
“I don’t think our kids really get the history between these two teams, but we’re going to try and let them know and realize it,” Hudson said. “I didn’t beat them in a championship game. Not only is this for the state championship. This is for history.”
