BOYS BASKETBALL: Columbia holds on to beat Lincoln for back-to-back district titles, clinches No. 1 seed in region

Steve Faulkner knew his group at Columbia was special from the first day of training camp.

So he never let up on the Tigers. He was hard on them, because he knew their potential.

On Saturday night, they showed just how good they can be. And it may just be the beginning.

Darrien Jones scored 16 points and Jordan Smith finished with 13 to help Columbia hold on for a 49-45 win over Lincoln in the District 2-6A championship game. It’s the second title in a row for the Tigers, who won it on their home floor to also clinch the No. 1 seed in the Region 1-6A playoffs.

It was also the 15th win in a row for Columbia, which hasn’t lost yet in 2020.

“I’m just proud of the guys,” Columbia coach Steve Faulkner said. “They stayed with it. I was a pain in their butt this year. I shoved my foot up their butt every day just because I knew how good this group can be, that we could do this again. I’m really excited."

Lincoln entered the night with the region’s top rating while Columbia was second. Saturday’s result automatically catapulted the Tigers (25-2) past the Trojans (22-5) as all four district winners are awarded the top four seeds.

That means Columbia will be home for the first three rounds of the playoffs like a year ago when it made it to the regional finals for the first time since 2000. First up is a rematch with 8-seeded Chiles, which Columbia beat 72-62 in Friday's district semifinal.

The Tigers could also see the Trojans again in the second round. Lincoln is the 5-seed and will travel to No. 4 seed and District 1 winner Milton. The bottom of the bracket pits 3-seed and District 3 champion Fleming Island against 6-seed Tate, while 2-seed and District 4 winner Daytona Beach Mainland will face 7-seed Ocala Forest.

“This is what we wanted. We want to be in our city,” Smith said. “I’m not going to say we don’t like being on the road but being at home, there’s nothing like the atmosphere here. To play at home and have all our fans on our side feels good.”

Especially after how difficult Saturday’s game was for the Tigers. They had to fight and claw for every point, scoring just 10 points apiece in the first two quarters.

But Columbia put together a masterful performance defensively and still managed to take a 20-16 lead into halftime. Lincoln, though, turned to a press defense in the second half and outscored the Tigers by four in the third to send the game into the fourth tied at 29.

Zae Wiggins had seven of his game-high 19 points in the third period before opening the fourth with a layup to give the Trojans their first lead since they were up 7-6 in the first quarter. Smith answered with a layup, but after David Ganious made two free throws, Columbia went on a 9-0 run that was capped off by Jones’ old-fashioned 3-point play to put the Tigers ahead 40-33.

“That first half was probably the best defense we’ve played all year,” Faulkner said. “But I knew going into halftime it hadn’t really worked for them so I knew something different was going to come with the press. We escaped because that press was really giving us issues. It’s something that we’re definitely going to need to work on.”

Jones, who is normally cool and collected at point guard, turned the ball over eight times in an uncharacteristic performance. Two of those came with less than two minutes to play and his team leading 41-38, with the first leading to a pair of free throws for Eddie Yon.

But Yon made just 1 of 2, only for Jones to then throw the ball away trying to pass to a teammate out of the press. Rajauhn Sancho was then fouled, but again, like Yon, made just 1 of 2 foul shots to cut Columbia’s lead to a point. 

Sancho finished with 11 points for Lincoln.

“It was very tough,” Jones said of the press. “My offense kept running away from me so I was trying to dribble through.

“Their pressure didn’t look like it was that tough (on film) but when we played against them it was pretty tough.”

The Trojans could never grab the lead though, mostly because they couldn’t convert at the foul line as the fourth quarter turned into a free throw shooting contest. They made just 10 of 17 foul shots in the fourth while the Tigers were 8 of 13 in the final period.

Smith answered Yon’s one make with a pair of his own and Jordan Wilford then had another 1-of-2 trip for Lincoln before Smith made two more foul shots to push Columbia’s lead to 45-41. The Trojans managed to pull within 48-45 on two free throws by Wiggins, but Marcus Owens iced the game with a foul shot with 9.8 seconds remaining.

Owens finished with seven points and 10 rebounds. Columbia also got eight points for Kenney Gaines, who made a big layup to put his team ahead 48-43.

Now the Tigers turn their attention to another deep playoff run, one that this time will hopefully end in Lakeland. One thing’s for sure, Faulkner won’t stop pushing his guys to reach their max potential.

“Before last year basketball was kind of an afterthought around here, but last year during that three-week stretch it was a priority,” Faulkner said. “This place was packed and I’m excited for these guys to get to experience that again and get this whole community rallied around them here in the stands supporting them. It’s huge. It’s going to be really big for our guys.”