Teams
1988-89 (East St. Louis) Lincoln High School Boys’ Team
Year Inducted: 1995
Category: Teams
Schools / Organizations: (East St. Louis) Lincoln High School
Biography:
“Three-Peat, Three-Peat – not without a dominant center,” critics would say. But once again, the East St. Louis Lincoln Tigers, led by 6’6” all-state junior Cuonzo Martin (26 ppg, 13 rebs, 7 steals), accomplished the unthinkable, a three-peat, back-to-back-to-back state championships (1987, 1988, 1989).
Proving the critics wrong, the Tigers did not have a dominant center like last year’s LaPhonso Ellis (23 ppg, 19 rebs, 7 blocks). In fact, Lincoln’s 6’8” center, Ronald “Tree” Willis (2 ppgs, 3 rebs, 1 block) came nowhere near or close to Ellis. Then how did they do it? Simple. They surrounded this “Tree” with the best outside shooters and ball handles, plus a little defense, but more importantly, they played as a team. Cuonzo Martin led the team with his 71% shooting. But throw in 6’3 senior guard Vincent Jackson (21 ppg, 9 rebs.), 6’3 junior guard Chris McKinney (13 ppg), 5’10” point guards, as well as 3-point sharpshooter Rico Sylvester, and 6’4” senior back-up center Sharif Ford (8 ppg, 9 rebs) and this team made history.
Yes, no team in the IHSA’s 82-year history had been able to win three consecutive state titles, until Bennie Lewis and the Tigers won in triple overtime. This was a team that talked a lot of noise off the courts, but was able to back it up on the court. Remember Martin talking about winning at the conclusion of the last year championship (1988). And, moments after arriving in Champaign for the finals, the Tigers viewed that no team would leave Champaign undefeated, and they would not. In fact, Lincoln had to defeat the number 3 team, Aurora East, the number 2 team, (Chicago King), and the number one team, undefeated Peoria Central respectively to win the tournament.
With the win, Cuonzo Martin and Chris McKinney were chosen as All-Staters. Bennie Lewis became one of only two coaches in IHSA history to win four state Class “AA” championships. Vincent Jackson, who ended his high school career, scored the game winning basket in the title game and became an all-stater and the only player to have played on three consecutive state championships (1987, 1988, 1989).
Everyone can agree, without a doubt, that the East St. Louis Lincoln Tigers are most definitely the winningest (percentage-wise) in the State of Illinois during the 1980’s.