FHHS Boys Basketball Bounced From Playoffs By Lincoln, 50-42

After a season of adversity, the eighth-ranked Rangers are finished, losing to top-ranked Abraham Lincoln High 50-42 Sunday night.

Under the bright lights at St. John's University, eight Ranger seniors saw the game as their last chance to leave a mark at the school, and knew they had an opportunity to take down the top-ranked "AA" team in the PSAL in Abraham Lincoln High School.

Hero: While senior Jose Torres did not have the big impact he did game, it was Denzel Dulin, who stepped up when Lincoln looked to make big runs and put the game out of reach. Though Dulin got into foul trouble early in the first half, he found a way to get his team into a rhythm by contributing with 14 points.

Turning Point: Lincoln looked to have the game sealed going into the second half, as they made the Rangers work to find open looks. Slowly, Forest Hills crawled back into contention, after eight straight points by senior Dulin that brought the game to 26-32 with 2:30 left in the third. For a team that has outscored many of its opponents by double digits, the closing Rangers began to worry Lincoln coach Dwayne Morton.

Bottom Line: The Rangers kept Lincoln on their heels throughout the fourth quarter, as Devin Johnson drained a long-range jumper to bring the Rangers within three in the first minutes of the fourth quarter, and later, Padgett hit a three-pointer to put his team up with five minutes left at 38-37.

Lincoln, however, went on the offensive with responses from veterans Shaquille Stokes and Kamari Murphy.

What made it even harder for the Rangers to succeed any type of comeback was the missed free throws at key posessions of the game. Dulin, who brought new life to the team in the third quarter, fouled out with two minutes remaining.

Quotable: Padgett knew his team had a chance to pull an upset, but the Rangers crumbled with bad performances down the stretch.

"We started not playing defense," said Padgett, who finished with 11 points. "We was rushing like it was a minute left on the clock, and they came out and played harder than us."

After the game, Morton admitted that his team lacked intensity in the second half and let the Rangers back into the game.

"Forest Hills came out with a lot of energy, and we came out with not a lot of energy," said Morton. 

Forest Hills assistant coach Anthony Dulin had nothing but good things to say about the team, as he assessed the overall season for the Rangers.

"This is a good lesson in life for them. There's going to be adversity, things that you have to deal with, but you just keep working," the coach said. "We felt like we were there."

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