By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
DENVER, N.C. – In the world and offense Lincoln Charter High’s boys live and succeed in again and again, there might not be a bad shot.
Playing that way again on Tuesday night – loose and lively, dripping with intensity and confidence and showing even a certain bit of cockiness – the Eagles rolled into their third straight appearance in the West 1A basketball title game by winning at home.
Cheered on by a loud crowd, second-seeded Lincoln Charter had four players in double figures en route to a dominating 79-34 victory over No. 6 seed Starmount in the first round of the West 1A Regionals.
One of the main things that has carried Lincoln Charter High’s boys to great success is the fast-paced, intense style they play under head coach Brad Gabriel (left). He allows the players — including his son, Jackson (left) — to play without fear that he is going to pull them to the bench if they miss a shot or fail if they try to make a big play./TWITTER PHOTO
Jehlon Johnson had 16 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks, Jackson Gabriel added 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Kody Shubert provided 12 points and nine assists and Levontae Knox scored 12 points to lead Lincoln Charter.
The Eagles (26-4) next play top-seeded Winston-Salem Prep (25-3) — a 78-67 home winner Tuesday over No. 5 North Stanly – for the West 1A championship on Saturday.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSA) will assign that site – Winston-Salem or Greensboro – on Wednesday.
“I don’t care who we play…” Eagles head coach Brad Gabriel said after his team steamrolled the Rams (25-4), not meaning it in a disrespectful way but more matter-of-fact that there are additional games Lincoln Charter must win to repeat as state 1A champion. “It (winning Tuesday) is another step closer to what we want to do – repeat.”
That the Eagles still have that opportunity comes from many different pieces fitting together.
But the way they play – at a fast pace, seldom afraid to take a shot or try to make a big play and encouraged by a coach who as a former player came to understand the value of not being eyeballed from the sidelines for taking a 20-footer even if the circumstances might not call for it – is paying Warren Buffett-like dividends.
“That’s what’s good about our system,” said Gabriel, a star guard at Bandys High who played in the West 2A Regionals in 1989-90 (Monroe 86, Bandys 81, 2 OTs at Lenoir-Rhyne University). “I let our kids play.
“It works for them. That’s the thing I loved (as a player)… There’s definitely a lot of freedom when your coach believes in you.”
Brad Gabriel learned that style of play while playing at Bandys for the late Bill Bost and for the late Mike Matheson. Bost was wide open, living by a philosophy that if his team scored 100 points and the other scores 90, well …
“We win by 10, and in my book that’s good defense,” Bost used to say.
Brad Gabriel may not push the envelope quite as far – he does emphasize playing defense as a must-do role to get playing time – but his players have earned a lot of flexibility, which appears to translate to pure fun, and it shows.
“It’s a testament to how gifted our kids are,” Brad Gabriel said of how he lets them play. “I get the most out of them because I let them play.”
Shubert is a second-generation player – his father, Mark, and uncle, David, played hoops at Bandys – and Jackson Gabriel is Brad’s son. Both Eagles players play with a quiet but noticeable confidence and with a spicy demeanor.
On Tuesday night, there was little doubt after the first eight minutes that the Eagles had the Rams outmatched, and a defining push came in the final four minutes of the opening quarter after an airball 3-point attempt by Kody Shubert.
Lincoln Charter led 11-3 when Starmount took its first timeout, with four minutes, 39 seconds left in the first quarter.
On the next trip down, Kody Shubert pulled up for a long 3-pointer from the right side that didn’t hit a thing.
He was completely unfazed by it.
After the Rams got only their second field goal of the quarter to make it 11-6, the high-flyin’ Eagles were on them hard, pecking away at any idea that this was going to be a battle to the end.
With 3:06 left, Jackson Gabriel pulled up from the left and drained a 3-pointer. Two minutes later, when the next points came, it was two free throws by Johnson. Then came a steal by Jackson Gabriel, who went the length of the floor for a layup, got fouled and hit a free throw.
About 25 seconds later, Kody Shubert hit a free throw before an 11-0 spurt to end the quarter was capped by Trian Barnes’ running 1-hander in the lane.
Before the Rams knew it, they were down 32-10 early in the second quarter when Kody Shubert drove from the left for a bucket, London England hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key and, off a fastbreak, Kody Shubert drained a 3-pointer from the left wing.
It was 38-13 at the half, with Johnson’s slam dunk off a loose ball the final Lincoln Charter points of the first half.
Lincoln Charter led 54-19 with three minutes to go in the third quarter via a steal and layup by Kendrick Davis, and a 10-0 run closed when Jackson Gabriel hit a 3-pointer from the left wing.
The four Eagles in double figures combined for 55 points.
“I like that for the third playoff game in four, we have four guys in double figures,” Brad Gabriel said. “That’s hard to beat… I don’t know how you beat that at whatever level you’re playing.”
Brad Gabriel said the Eagles’ game plan was to run, run and run some more and tire the Rams’ collect legs out.
“A quick shot by them was a good shot for us,” Brad Gabriel said.
And with it came another shot at reaching the state 1A championship game.
BOXSCORE: See earlier post.