MIDDLE POINT — The last time Lincolnview had gone unbeaten this far into a boys basketball season, Lima Central coach Frank Kill was a starter for the Lancers on their undefeated 1997 state champion team.
Back where it all started, he was a winner again when LCC beat Lincolnview 62-44 in a matchup of No.1-ranked teams on Friday night in front of a sellout crowd.
LCC (18-1) came into the game ranked No. 1 in Division III in The Associated Press boys basketball poll and Lincolnview (19-1) was the top-ranked team in Division IV.
Tre Cobbs scored 26 points for LCC. Dantez Walton had 13 points and Josh Dixon scored 10. Chandler Adams’ 13 points led Lincolnview and Trevor Neate scored 10.
“It’s good to come back here and get a win,” Kill said.
That win wasn’t always as trouble free as the final score might have indicated, though.
Halfway through the second quarter, Lincolnview had an 18-17 lead, Walton was on the bench after picking up two quick fouls and the Thunderbirds had 10 turnovers in the game’s first 12 minutes.
But from there, LCC went on a 12-1 run to end the first half and took a 29-19 lead to the locker room.
Lincolnview never got the lead below 10 points the rest of the game.
“We had some really negligent turnovers early on. I thought we were tight,” Kill said.
“I called a timeout and kind of said, ‘Hey, you can’t let these guys hang around on their home court. Good things are going to happen for them.’
“I thought in the second quarter we did a better job of getting stops and turning it into a transition game. We got some easy lay-ups and we had some open looks that we hit,” he said.
He also pointed to the defensive work 6-foot, 4-inch junior Thomas Williams did off the bench against Lincolnview’s strongest inside player, Chandler Adams, as a big factor in turning the game around.
“Defensively, Thomas Williams was kind of the key tonight. The Adams kid is a load. I thought Thomas was a difference maker tonight in terms of defending their inside presence,” Kill said.
“Tre Cobbs really carried us offensively. When Dantez is off the floor (because of fouls), that’s not exactly what we’ve drawn up,” he said.
Friday night’s game was the first of four straight road games to end the regular season for LCC.
Kill said games like Friday night can prepare LCC for the postseason.
“We played hard all the time but sometimes I don’t think we played focused tonight. I love coming back to Lincolnview because of the great fan support and the environment. It’s a tournament environment,” he said.
Lincolnview coach Brett Hammons said, “We knew the quickness and athleticism they had. I thought we battled. Unfortunately, we gave them too many easy baskets. We didn’t guard them the way we wanted to.
“They went on a couple two-minute stretches where they kind of extended the game. We can’t have stretches like that. We let our turnovers lead to easy baskets on their end. When you do it against No. 1-ranked teams like that, as good as LCC is, it’s going to be tough to win,” he said.
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