Lincoln still undefeated
Brito, Nassi combine for 49 points in victory over Warriors
Photo by Ernest A. Brown
CENTRAL FALLS – Lincoln High is in the midst of creating hoop history, but neither senior Vinny Nassi nor his teammates would admit to it.
They’re all just taking it game by game, which is what most winners do.
The latest contest, which just happened to be a 68-48 blowout of Division III rival Central Falls at the Warriors’ gym on Wednesday night, happened to push the Lions to an uncanny 15-0 in league action. And they achieved it a variety of ways: First, Nassi landed five treys to close with 23 points (with eight rebounds and four steals), while junior forward Octavio Brito registered a game-high 26 points (not to mention 15 rebounds and five blocks).
Other key contributions came from senior swing Cody Anter (10 points, eight boards, five assists, three rebounds, three steals); classmate and swing Josh Jahnz (bucket, three assists, two steals); and his best bud Randall Hien (seven points, four assists, two steals).
Honestly, Nassi couldn’t miss in this one, and that’s why the Warriors (now 6-9 in D-III) continue to chase that elusive one win that would nail down a playoff berth. (They have three games left to achieve such).
“It’s happened a couple of times, but not very often; I guess, when I’m hot, I’m hot,” Nassi grinned after the triumph. “I still think it was just a total team effort here. We take every practice, every game, very seriously. We all know we have a chance to do something special; a Lincoln team has never had this kind of record, not in a very long time.
Like Nassi, coach Kent Crooks is taking it all in stride – after all, that’s what he’s been teaching mlst of these players for the past three or four years.
“You know, (assistant) Jay (Kelley) and I have talked, and we understand the limitations we have – we’re not deep, we’re not big. We sometimes look at the athleticism of a BVP or Central Falls or other teams, and we think it’s amazing where we’re at.
“But, by the same token, the chemistry with this group is amazing. They play for each other, they move the ball, they look for the open guy. They’re a great bunch of kids, very unselfish. They work for each other.
“We were steady; we slowly pulled away,” he continued. “Jeff Doucette (the CF mentor) is a former player of mine at North Providence, and he’s a great coach. This is a tough place to play and they’ve beaten a number of good teams. They deserve credit for the toughness they displayed in this one. They kept battling, but this was more of a precision game for us.
For CF, sophomore Chunn Anderson posted 15 points (with three treys) off the bench, while senior Luis Gonzalez mustered 10 points and six boards; junior Warner Galva seven points, senior Hector Osorio five points and five rebounds; and classmate Jason DePina four points.
Early on, Lincoln held leads of 6-2, 9-4 and 22-13, but Warriors’ Galva canned a layup off a turnover with 6:16 left in the opening session to slice it to 22-15.
Thirty-six seconds later, Anter nailed a trifecta, Nassi did the same and that opened the floodgates. With 2:54 remaining and the Lions already up, 28-7, Brito splashed a three, Nassi a 15-footer, Brito a 16-footer and – finally – Nassi a bomb off glass with 0.2 seconds remaining to give Lincoln the a40-19 cushion.
The Lions also outscored CF, 19-9, in the initial 6:28 of the second half to take a 59-28 cushion and put the game out of reach.
“They were hitting shots through the roof; we didn’t contest some of their shots, but when when we did, they buried it,” Doucette said afterward. “I will say I’m excited about our younger guys coming up. They came in, rebounded, made some good passes and put the ball in the basket. I mean, Chunn had 15 points in – what – seven minutes of the second half?
“Now we need to win one of our last three to make the playoffs.”
That tilt will be held Friday night at 7 at this same site against a solid Johnston squad.
Noted Crooks: “I’ll tell you one thing: Octavio Brito is an All-State player. Usually, Division III players don’t get that kind of recognition, but I want to publicly say he’s of that caliber.
“The kid’s just that good.”
LINCOLN (68) – Vinny Nassi 9 0-0 23, Randall Hien 2 1-2 7, Josh Jahnz 1 0-0 2, Octavio Brito 10 2-2 26, Cody Anter 4 0-0 10, Marcus Mensah 0 0-0 0, Fabio DeCarvalho 0 0-0 0, Aiden Bridges 0 0-0 0, Kyle Wilson 0 0-0 0, Andrew Bugera 0 0-0 0, Jaeden DaCruz 0 0-0 0, Dylan Balon 0 0-0 0, Elaijag Cardoso 0 0-0 0; totals 26 3-4 68. CENTRAL FALLS (48) – Luis Gonzalez 5 0-0 10, Jason DePina 2 0-3 4, Darryl Fleurantin 1 0-0 3, Chunn Anderson 6 0-1 15, Warner Galva 3 0-0 7, Chris Araujo 1 0-0 2, Hector Osorio 2 1-2 5, Jaquell Christal 1 0-0 2, Jaden Alvarado 0 0-0 0, Angel Castano 0 0-0 0, Luis Pabon 0 0-0 0, JoAlexis Angueira 0 0-0 0, Lorens Brantley 0 0-0 0; totals 21 1-6 48. Three-point field goals: Nassi 5, Brito
4, Hien 2, Anter 2, Anderson 3, Galva, Fleurantin.
Halftime: Lincoln, 40-19.