By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Last night, the Seattle Academy Cardinals, the top-ranked team in the Metro Sound Division at 16–3 overall, traveled to face the Lincoln Lynx (9–9 overall) in a lively gym packed for Lincoln’s senior night. The game was physical, fast-paced, and filled with key defensive stretches and scoring bursts, especially from the Cardinals, who showed why they sit atop the standings.
Seattle Academy set the tone early. After winning the opening tip, Jaden Arriaga scored a quick basket to give the Cardinals a 2 to 0 lead. Lincoln answered right away with a finish at the rim by Luke Dagg, tying the game at 2. But Arriaga came right back with another bucket, pushing the visitors back in front. Both teams showed intensity out of the gate, with quick possessions and active hands defensively.
EJ Hill gave the Cardinals a boost with a steal near midcourt, but Lincoln immediately stole it back and drew a foul. Julius Han made one of two free throws to bring the score to 4 to 3. On the following few possessions, both teams stalled a bit, but Lincoln found a spark again when Dagg scored inside, giving the Lynx their first lead at 5 to 4. That advantage didn’t last long. Arriaga collected a teammate’s missed layup and scored on the putback, shifting the lead once more to Seattle Academy.
Lincoln had a chance to swing momentum again when Josiah Smith picked off a pass and raced up the floor, but his possession ended without points after the ball slipped out of bounds. That defensive stop seemed to energize Seattle Academy. The Cardinals responded with a 7 to 0 scoring run, starting with a three-point shot and a strong drive from Hill, followed by another long-range connection from Josh Wang to push the lead to 13 to 5.
But Lincoln ended the quarter with a confidence boost. Kai Chatwin, with the shot clock winding down, drilled a buzzer-beating three-point shot, cutting the deficit to 13 to 8. Despite the late score, Seattle Academy controlled the pace and entered the second quarter with a five-point advantage.
Lincoln opened the second quarter with possession, but the period turned into a grind. Both teams tightened up defensively, and scoring became rare. On one possession, Seattle Academy appeared headed for an easy bucket before Kingston Jamal Evans came flying in for a huge block, igniting the Lincoln student section and shifting the gym’s energy.
Seattle Academy responded with its own defense. Indy Huang grabbed a steal near half court, but the possession ended with an over and back call. Lincoln then got a steal from Evans, only for Charlie Constable to swat the shot attempt on the other end. Through the first five minutes of the quarter, neither team could break through, with turnovers, steals, and shot clock violations piling up.
Seattle Academy called a timeout with 4:51 remaining in the half to regroup offensively. Following the break, Lincoln managed to draw a foul and sent Smith to the line, where he made one of two to bring the score to 13 to 9. It marked the first point of the second quarter and snapped the extended drought.
Moments later, Constable read a passing lane and intercepted a Lincoln possession, feeding Arriaga for a layup to stretch the Cardinals’ lead. Smith countered with a basket, but Seattle Academy began to open things up again. A three-point shot from the perimeter was followed by another finish from Arriaga, putting the Cardinals ahead 20 to 11.
In the final moments of the half, Seattle Academy’s defense continued to pressure the Lynx. Arriaga again found Hill for a clean look from behind the arc, and although Lincoln answered with a timely shot of their own, Huang had the last say before halftime. He hit a buzzer-beating three-point shot, sending Seattle Academy into the locker room up 26 to 14.
The third quarter began much like the second ended. Both teams were eager but error-prone. Seattle Academy turned it over on the first possession, and Lincoln gave it right back. Eventually, Arriaga got the Cardinals back on the board with a drive to the rim, and Dagg matched it on the other end with a shot in the paint.
Wang followed with a midrange jumper for the Cardinals before Dagg scored again for the Lynx. But the Cardinals began to pull away once more. Colin Chiang found Wang on the wing for a clean three-point shot, pushing the lead to 33 to 18. Huang capitalized on a Lincoln turnover with another three-point shot, extending the lead to 36 to 18.
Smith went to the line again and split a pair of free throws to make it 36 to 19. But the Cardinals weren’t letting up. Hill came away with another steal and scored an uncontested layup to push the lead back to 19. That prompted a Lincoln timeout with 4:02 left in the quarter.
Seattle Academy remained in full control. Huang added another basket, and Arriaga hit both of his free throws on the following possession after drawing contact inside. Dagg then missed two free throws for Lincoln, and the deficit only widened. Hill picked off another pass and found Arriaga for a quick finish at the rim to make it 44 to 21.
With just under a minute left, the Cardinals called timeout to reset. Right out of the break, Wang knocked down another three-point shot, extending the lead to 47 to 21 heading into the fourth quarter.
Lincoln came out of the break with purpose. Evans scored on an inbounds play under the basket, and with Seattle Academy’s starters now resting, the Lynx found some offensive flow. Smith dazzled with a behind-the-head layup that cut into the deficit and triggered a Lincoln timeout with 6:19 remaining.
After the timeout, Jace Paulson added a bucket off the glass, but Constable answered with a block on Evans and raced the other way for a transition score. Satchel Gordenh added one of two free throws before Constable capped the sequence with a thunderous dunk, though it was followed by a technical foul. Tefft knocked down both technical free throws for Lincoln to make it 56 to 29.
Seattle Academy’s defense closed the game just as strong as it opened. Constable came up with another block, and his teammates applied pressure on inbound plays, stealing one away from Smith and turning it into a fast-break layup. Constable denied Kyvaughn Kirkland on a block that lit up the visiting bench. Tefft added two more close-range finishes for the Lynx, and Jack Humphrey scored off the glass to bring the score to 58 to 35.
A late technical on Tate Lonergan gave Kirkland a chance at the line, but he missed both shots. Seconds later, Lonergan redeemed himself by drilling a final three-point shot, and Seattle Academy closed out the game with a 61 to 35 victory on the road.
After the game, head coach Ryan Webb praised his team’s poise and discipline across all four quarters.
“Everyone was locked into the game plan both defensively and offensively,” Webb said. “I really thought we played to our standard, which is important when you’re on the road.”
Photos/Aaron Allen
