Trojans trip up Eagles with hot shooting

Lincoln drops 10 3-pointers on Eagles; Bond has 18 for Elliot

STOCKTON — Andre Kelly didn’t let the frenzy around him ruin his night.

After making it through a considerably up-tempo first half, the 6-foot-8 forward facilitated his teammates, had a massive rebounding night, and eventually, found his own scoring rhythm. The junior Kelly posted 18 points and a career-high 27 rebounds, as the Trojans rallied past Elliot Christian 7060 on Tuesday night at home.

Elliot Christian (3-2), No. 18 in Nor-Cal-Preps’ latest Northern California boys rankings, couldn’t find the devastating 3-point shooting touch that led to an upset win over Jesuit-Carmichael last week. Instead, it was the Trojans (7-2) who poured in 10 treys, led by three apiece from Brett Zastrow and Niko Levitt.

Lincoln’s sharpness from beyond the arc, coupled with Kelly’s dominance, was the perfect recipe for a statement win.

“He’s the best post in our area. He did a great job pitching to his shooters,” Eagles coach Jason Hitt said of Kelly, who had five assists. “We got a lot of charges in the first half. He calmed himself down and really took care of business.

“He didn’t try to push too much. He let his shooters finish us off.”

Indeed, Zastrow added 16 points and Levitt 14, and the Trojans held the sharpshooting Eagles without a second-half 3. Nate Bond paced Elliot Christian with 18 points, while Jalen Valverde added 15 points and Onkar Sidhu had a double-double with 12 points and 15 boards.

“In the second half, I started trusting my teammates and they were knocking down a lot of shots,” Kelly said. “That really opened up the game inside for me.”

Lincoln keyed on Eagles senior Jimmy Beltz, who had nine 3s and 32 points in the Jesuit win, and held him to five points behind an intense perimeter defense.

“When they’re knocking down their shots, and they can isolate Kelly in the post, they’re going to be very tough to beat,” Hitt said. “As long as their perimeter game can stay up, they’ll go far in the playoffs this year.”

The Trojans broke a 39-all halftime tie by starting the second half on an 8-0 run, highlighted by a 3 from Zeke Holman and an inside bucket from Kelly. Lincoln led the rest of the way.

Lincoln’s game plan was to make Elliot Christian earn all of its offense, Trojans coach Gary Greeno said, and the Trojans executed. It certainly helps that Kelly displayed all aspects of his basketball prowess.

“Andre is such a great passer,” Greeno said. “He’s such a great team player.”