Despite semifinal loss, season an overwhelming success for Lincoln basketball, Seely-Roberts family: ‘We’ve created something that’s going to last’
By Alex Tam | Photos by Ken Waz
PORTLAND — Lincoln knew the uphill battle it faced Friday night against not only the overwhelming state title favorite, but also one of the top teams in the country.
West Linn’s loaded roster boasts two state player of the year caliber candidates, plus many hard-nosed Division I athletes who play their roles well.
Throw in a scorching-hot shooting start that saw five of the Lions’ first six field goals be 3-pointers, and that uphill climb for Lincoln from the opening tip just got higher and steeper.
“They shot the lights out,” Lincoln coach Heather Seely-Roberts said. “They’re good. They’re a good team and did a nice job. We just couldn’t afford to make mistakes, and we turned the ball over and missed shots.”
Fourth-seeded Lincoln’s memorable run came to an end in the Class 6A semifinals with an 89-69 defeat to No. 1 West Linn at the Chiles Center at the University of Portland.
When Jackson Shelstad wasn’t carving up the Cardinals en route to 32 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, it was teammate Adrian Mosley dominating the paint for 16 points and eight rebounds.
Seely-Roberts said the Cardinals’ game plan was to force West Linn to beat them from the perimeter. But just six minutes into the game, Lincoln found itself down 21-11 behind several turnovers that led to easy layups, plus a West Linn team that couldn’t miss from outside.
“You’ve got to make shots,” Seely-Roberts said. “We talked a lot about not giving up second shots — and we gave up second shots. Jackson did a nice job. You either let Jackson beat you or you let the other kids beat you, and both things happened today.”
The Cardinals hung around for most of the first half, facing just a 45-33 deficit at halftime. But the Lions asserted themselves in the third quarter, extending their lead to 24 points at 59-35 at the 4:43 mark.
Lincoln had a brief spurt, using Seely-Roberts’ signature full-court press that spurred a 7-0 run to get within 17, but the deficit proved too much to overcome.
“You can’t get bothered by their physicality,” said senior Malachi Seely-Roberts, who had 10 points and four rebounds. “They’re a bunch of strong football players and baseball players. They play physical, like you’d expect. You can’t get bothered by that. You have to guard Jackson Shelstad, which is a lot easier said than done. You have to play really well to beat them.”
Senior Moroni Seely-Roberts battled hard to finish with 26 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Junior Evan Heisler added 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting with three rebounds.
Despite the loss, the season marked a complete culture change for Lincoln in Heather Seely-Roberts’ second season — not only within the program, but in terms of building a basketball community at the Southwest Portland school.
One of her priorities became generating excitement among the students and getting them out to support the team for home games. And game by game, the bleachers suddenly started filling up more and more with students ready to make their mark.
By the time the state tournament came around, Lincoln brought one of the largest and rowdiest student sections. On Friday, the school had four full rooter buses to bring fans — a feat that didn’t seem likely at the beginning of the season.
“A lot of what Coach Roberts has done is make students interested in the game,” Malachi Seely-Roberts said. “Like making sure everyone knows us, and she makes people excited to come to the games. Credit to Coach Roberts, our whole coaching staff and teachers and everyone at our school is talking about it. It’s really exciting to look up and see our whole student section.”
Heather Seely-Roberts said she was proud to see the turnout.
“That’s what we really want to do here,” she said. “That’s what sports can do is build a community. They’re proud to be Cardinals, and that’s the beauty of sports and this tournament.”
Added Moroni Seely-Roberts: “I felt like we’ve created something that’s going to last bigger than this season.”
Most memorably for the Seely-Roberts family, the opportunity to experience the last four seasons together — two at Yamhill-Carlton and two at Lincoln — is something they’ll never forget. Heather got to coach her sons during their entire high school career, which included winning the Class 3A season-culminating state tournament two years ago, and now earning a state trophy their senior year.
“For me to have one more day with (coaching) them is such a blessing,” Heather Seely-Roberts said. “I can’t even think about what’s going to happen after that. They’re such great basketball players, but they’re even better people. Very few people get to do what I got to do, which is spend so much time with them.
“No moms get to do this. I appreciate them letting me do it, too, because a lot of boys would be like, ‘Mom, you’re not coming to our school.’ We just really have a special relationship.”
Even with all the wins, the successes and the triumphs, the thing they’ll remember most is the time spent together, and all of the 40-minute drives between the school and their home in Newberg every weekday.
“It just makes it a lot more special,” Malachi Seely-Roberts said. “In 50 years, when I’m talking about it with my kids and Uncle Moroni, it’ll be cool to talk about this experience.
“It’s more special to do it as a family.”
Moroni echoed his brother’s sentiments.
“She’s an amazing coach, amazing mom,” Moroni said. “To be able to spend extra time with them, there’s obviously hard times and challenging times, but to come home and know she loves me and she’s there for me through the ups and downs, I’m just grateful to have this experience with her.”
Heather Seely-Roberts said she ranks this season as a close “favorite” all-time in her coaching career — right up there with qualifying for the state tournament at Ashland and the trophies her teams won at Lakeridge.
She said she plans to return to coach at Lincoln next season and wants to continue building on what they’ve accomplished.
“That’s the plan right now because my boys are going on their mission,” Heather Seely-Roberts said. “I need to have something to do. The kids got a chance to play on the biggest stage and got to prove themselves and show they’re not only good players, but that Lincoln is a really good program.”
