No one on-site was sure about the previous time Abraham Lincoln beat East in boys basketball or if the Lancers had ever knocked off their considerably more accomplished foes.
No matter.
The Lancers’ 70-65 home victory Tuesday proved verifiably historic in other ways.
It was a follow-up meeting between the most recent two larger-school champions — last season, East won Class 5A and Abraham Lincoln won 4A, the first time city schools owned the two top rungs of boys basketball. And the Lancers proved their worth heading into Sunday’s playoff-bracket announcement party, raised some questions about the Angels (17-5, 6-1 league) and can capture the Denver Prep League title Thursday with a victory against George Washington.
Eric Carrasco’s two free throws in the final seconds sealed it, but the Lancers (17-5, 7-0) overcame much more. They began by committing three consecutive turnovers and made only 8-of-17 free throws.
East 16 18 13 18 — 65
Abraham Lincoln 17 12 23 18 — 70
East — Verner 4 3-4 11, Wiese 6 0-0 13, Da. Thornton 3 4-4 10, Gilbert 3 5-6 11, De. Thornton 8 2-4 19, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Ross 0 0-0 0, Hilaire 0 1-2 1, Hildreth 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 15-20 65.
Abraham Lincoln — Carrasco 2 2-2 6, Calloway 6 1-6 16, Williams 2 0-0 4, Torres 3 0-0 6, Cruz 13 3-7 32, Preciado 2 0-0 4, Rodriguez 0 2-2 2, Rangel 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 8-17 70.
3-point goals — De. Thornton, Wiese; Calloway 3, Cruz 3.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
