‘We want to play the best team.’ Lincoln now gets its shot at No. 1 West Linn after sweating out final seconds vs. Gresham in 6A quarterfinal

“We won, and that’s all that matters.”

Author:
Paul Valencia
Publish date:
Mar 9, 2023 11:31 PM EST

By Paul Valencia | Photos by Naji Saker

The ball was in the air for that final half-second or so.

“I hope it doesn’t go in,” Lincoln senior Moroni Seely-Roberts recalled thinking, standing on the court with nothing left to do but watch.

“I thought it was going in,” Gresham coach Corey Lockhart said.

“It was scary, but they missed it, thank goodness,” said Lincoln coach Heather Seely-Roberts.

The ball hit the backboard, bounced inside the cylinder, and then spun out.

It was that close.

The Lincoln Cardinals are going to the Class 6A boys basketball state semifinals.

The Gresham Gophers are going to the consolation bracket.

That close.

“A win’s a win,” said Lincoln senior Malachi Seely-Roberts.

Indeed.

Lincoln never trailed Thursday and even had an 11-point lead with four minutes to play but then had to survive for a 60-59 victory in the quarterfinals of the OSAA 6A boys basketball state tournament at the Chiles Center.

With 2.4 seconds left, Gresham’s Esyah Pippa-White caught a long inbound pass near midcourt, took two dribbles to cross the half-court line and launched a long shot just before the horn.

When it spun out of the rim, it was the Cardinals who were celebrating.

“I was stressing, and when it missed, oh, it was crazy,” Moroni Seely-Roberts said. “I’m close friends with Esyah. I know his family. They’re a great team, and he’s a great player, but obviously we wanted to win.”

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Moroni Seely-Roberts had a double-double for the Cardinals with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Twin brother Malachi Seely-Roberts made four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points. And 6-10 center Graham Eikenberry just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Pippa-White scored 17 for the Gophers, as did RJ Alexander, who made five 3-pointers.

Alexander hit two 3-pointers and Scotty Riddle made one in the final 90 seconds, helping the Gophers cut an 11-point deficit to one.

The Cardinals missed a free throw with 3.5 seconds left. The Gophers got the rebound and called timeout with 2.4 seconds to play.

Up until those chaotic final minutes, Lincoln controlled much of the game. Moroni Seely-Roberts had eight points and five rebounds in the first quarter as Lincoln built a nine-point lead. Gresham rallied to make it a three-point game at the half, but Lincoln pushed the advantage to double-figures in the third quarter. The Cardinals still had an 11-point lead with 3:56 to go.

“Part of it was my fault,” Heather Seely-Roberts said. “I said, ‘Let’s take good shots.’ I think somehow my kids interpreted that as saying take no shots. I thought we went away from what we were doing well. That part of it was me, and I think we froze up. And (the Gophers) did a really good job making 3s.”

Her twin sons sound like coaches, too.

“We came out strong, started out really well,” Malachi Seely-Roberts said. “We kind of got complacent. At the end, we struggled a little bit handling their pressure. Once they started getting more physical, we didn’t respond with physicality.”

After a slight pause …

“We won, and that’s all that matters,” he said.

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Outside the other locker room, the Gophers were trying to come to terms with what might have been Thursday.

“Keep our heads up, play hard,” Lockhart said was the message to his players after the game. “We've still got a chance to bring some hardware home. So, let’s battle and be prepared for the next game.”

Gresham (22-5) will play Central Catholic at 9 a.m. Friday in the fourth-place semifinals.

Lincoln (24-4), the No. 4 seed in the tournament, will face No. 1 West Linn in the championship semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

“I haven’t even prepped for West Linn at all because I was really focused on Gresham,” Heather Seely-Roberts said. “We are excited.”

“We want to play the best team,” Malachi Seely-Roberts said. “To reach the state championship, we’re going to have to play them anyway, so why not play them next?”