Lincoln 74 Banneker 56
Lincoln didn’t need any more help, but the defending PSAL champions got some anyway.
After storming through the regular season undefeated in the PSAL, Lincoln added 6-foot-3 junior transfer James Barrett and he paid immediate dividends in the team’s 74-56 win over Banneker last night in the Brooklyn Borough championship at St. Francis College.
“I’ve been waiting the whole year for this,” Barrett said after scoring 18 points in his debut for Lincoln (24-4). “I tried not to do too much since it was my first game back. I just wanted to fit in with the team.”
After spending two years at Bishop Loughlin, Barrett transferred to Milford Academy then came to Lincoln. Barrett was ineligible until yesterday and will have to go to prep school in the fall because he will have played four years in high school.
“I have a lot I want to get before I leave,” Barrett said. “At first I said to myself that I just had to work together with everyone, but that was easy. Now I think I can do more.”
Last night, Lincoln needed him. Although Sebastian Telfair led the team with 26 points, he missed 14 of his 20 shots from the floor and Lincoln’s offense never got going. They trailed big early for the second straight game, this time 14-2.
Lincoln still handily beat Banneker (22-7), a team that could get the No. 2 seed in the PSAL playoffs, which begin on Tuesday. Gary Forbes scored 16 points for Banneker.
“We’re in better position to win the championship this year than we were last year,” said Telfair, who had six turnovers and four assists. “We’re hungrier than last year, but it’s harder to defend [it] than to win the first time.”
So far, it hasn’t been. The Railsplitters’ only losses have been on the road in national tournaments and to St. Raymond’s, when they were without Barrett.
“I like his size,” Lincoln head coach Dwayne Morton said of the newcomer. “I was kind of upset about the route he had to take to get here, but he’s going to be important for us.”
The 18-year-old Barrett was quick to deflect praise and heap it on Telfair.
“Sebastian makes everything easy,” Barrett said. “He gets all the attention and then I can make shots no one expects me to make.”