HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Lincoln Wins in Tuneup for ‘the Season’

SAN DIEGO — The game meant nothing for Lincoln. It had already clinched first place in the City Central and is looking forward to a high seed in the Division III playoffs. St. Augustine, on the other hand, would have liked to come out of the season with a memory of something other than the 12 victories it forfeited.

An upset over the No. 7 Hornets in the regular season’s last game would have done nicely.

Would have . The Hornets weren’t about to enter what they refer to as “the season,” otherwise known as the postseason, in the wake of a loss. Instead, they left St. Augustine in a wake, 85-74. Afterward, the Hornets were talking about defense, about bringing it up another notch for “the season.” They were talking about confidence and how that quality tends to build as seasons progress at Lincoln.

They were talking about their league and postseason record of the last five years. Combined, it’s 56-5.

“Now the season starts,” said Ron Loneski, Lincoln coach. “And the important thing is to win the last game you play and I don’t think there are a lot of teams that do that. One college team . . . and hopefully us.”

Lincoln (19-8, 8-0) will have momentum in the playoffs. After a disappointing pre-league performance, they entered league play and never lost.

Now they’re going after a third consecutive section title. If Friday’s game is any indicator, they’re going after it with both muscle and finesse.

In the muscle department there is center Darryl McMillan and forward Andre Toussaint. McMillan ravaged St. Augustine with 19 points, most of which came within the lane. Toussaint added 15 points from down low.

And then there are guards Ken Garner and Victor Dean, who throw in shots from the perimeter.

Against St. Augustine, Garner was the hotter of the two; like McMillan, he had 19. Dean, who played only a couple minutes of the second half after injuring his left foot in the first, finished with 10.

Garner’s performance was nothing unusual. He has come on of late and seems to have taken a leadership role. Something Loneski has noted.

“Kenny’s gotten a lot of self-confidence in the way he’s playing,” the coach said. “And that’s a big plus for us because he gives us an outside shooter.”

Garner isn’t so quick to accept credit.

“My shooting percentage was horrible at the beginning of the season,” Garner said. “But when Victor came back (from the football playoffs), it started going up. When he wasn’t in there, there was a lot of pressure on me because everybody was looking for me to shoot the ball.”

Paul Mossuto scored 19 for St. Augustine (6-20, 5-3) and teammate Bryan Cantwell added 18.