From winless to 11-0 in two years is 'surreal' for Lincoln boys basketball (2024)

LINCOLN —When you walk into the Lincoln Public School gymnasium, one thing you won't see is a lot of state championship banners.

In fact, there are just two from the girls cross country teams in 2004 and 2005. What you will see, however, is a group of 300 fans or so that don't seem to mind.

On Friday night, as the Valley Christian Eagles invaded the gym, the entire town of Lincoln may not have been on hand, but in a gym that doesn't even feature a regulation size floor, empty seats were few and far between to witness the 59-31 victory.

It hasn't always been that way for the Lincoln Lynx boys basketball team.

Three years ago, the Lynx only had a team because three eighth-graders were willing to step up and play varsity basketball during the 2020-21 season— the first of two consecutive winless campaigns.

Fast forward to the 2023-24 season and those three players— Andrew Brown, Teegan Tybo and Noah Barnett— are part of a Lynx team that's 11-0.

"In my 22 years as a coach here," Lincoln boys head coach Shane Brown said, "I have had my share of ups and downs. And I knew this wasn't going to be any different. I told the kids as eighth-graders that they were going to take their lumps. I just knew that we had to work hard."

Refusing to be discouraged, the Lynx rolled up their sleeves and at times it wasn't pretty, suffering a few lopsided defeats on their way to winless seasons in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

"We did not know what to expect," said Tybo, a junior. "We didn't win a single game. We got blown out by (about) 40 every game. But Coach Brown was there every step of the way. He helped us get through it and now, we're here."

"It's surreal," Shane Brown said. "It really is. But it's because of this core group of kids that just said 'enough is enough'. I told them, you aren't going to get pity from anybody. If you want to change, you're going to have to change it."

That change wasn't going to happen overnight, though.

"Starting out as an eighth-grader was definitely rough," junior point guard Andrew Brown said. "We had one senior going up against a bunch of seniors. It wasn't easy."

The experience wasn't without merit.

"It pushes us," Andrew said. "We have a drive to do better and the goal is to get to the highest level that we can."

As it happens, winning does a little town like Lincoln a lot of good.

"The community has been rallying," Shane Brown said. "They want to do stuff for the kids. They want them to do well."

The community presence at the games has also had a tangible impact.

"It means everything," Tybo said of seeing the stands full. "Once the crowd is engaged we play better. We can feed off their energy. That's something we didn't have our eighth-grade year. We had maybe 12 people in the stands so seeing all those people brings a smile to everyone's face."

"When we go out to eat dinner," Tybo said. "It's like, 'hey, nice game.' All they talk about is basketball."

When the Lynx traveled for those 6-Man playoffs, even the players were surprised by the community response.

"The field was just packed with people and we had crazy amounts of numbers," Tybo said. "We didn't think anybody was showing up. It was four hours away but our community is awesome."

Like the basketball team, it also seems to have a bit of a chip on its shoulder.

"It means a lot," Coach Brown said of the team's success. "Lincoln is ... many people don't know it. We're around the middle of nowhere up by the Divide. And we talk about it with some of our mottos— they are about respect and playing with a chip on our shoulder and that's just from all the stuff we've been through the past three, four years. But they remember. They remember what other teams had done in the past so it's about earning respect and having that chip on our shoulder."

One of two seniors, Wesson Dempster, has been through it all and that chip is probably bigger than most.

"It's a great feeling to have all these goals within our grasp," he said. "We never would have had a chance at anything like this in the past few years and I don't think another team from Lincoln has made it to state. That motivates us."

The Lynx are leading the 13C standings as of Friday night. However, advancing to the state tournament from the Western C is never easy.

But the Lynx are accustomed to overcoming obstacles and if they do make the state tournament, their cheering section will be anything but modest.