Marquis Clark shrugs off a possible broken nose and leads Young to a hard-fought victory at Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park was not going to let Marquis Clark beat them on Thursday. The Lions were extremely physical with Young’s senior star guard. Clark took a shot to the face and headed to the locker room with 2:29 left to play. The Dolphins were clinging to a one-point lead.
Clark remerged with a crisscross of bandages on his face and cotton stuffed in his nose. He ripped off the bandages before he checked back in to the game.
“I was coming back in, even with a broken nose,” Clark said. “That didn’t matter. We had to see this home.”
The Tennessee recruit toughed it out, and junior guard Ed Williams stepped up in the final minute as No. 25 Young won 65-62.
Clark, talking after the game with his nose swelling and blood seeping out of the cotton in his nostrils, said he actually enjoyed the rough 32 minutes.
“This is the type of environment I like to play in,” Clark said. “We fought. Both teams played as hard as possible until the last second of the game. We finished strong. That’s what we do.”
Lincoln Park’s tiny gym was as loud and hectic as always. Late in the game, the Lions’ cheerleaders ran to the opposite side of the court, trying to influence Young’s free throws. That’s against the rules and the cheerleaders were waved away by the officials. But they hid in the corner, chanted and the Dolphins (13-6, 3-0 Red North) missed two free throws.
Every possession on Lincoln Park’s court, with some of the crowd and the coaches standing on the playing court, is a battle.
“That was the craziest game I’ve ever been in,” Young freshman Travis Jamison II said.
Jamison drained three three-pointers in the first three minutes of the game and finished with 18 points. He was 6-for-9 from three-point range.
“I played in the JV game before the varsity game, so I had a chance to get used to how wild it is in here,” Jamison said. “When I came in, I was already warmed up and used to it. When I saw the first shot go in I knew I was going to have a good day.”
Clark finished with 12 points and Caden Crudup added 13 points and five rebounds. Williams had seven points, five rebounds and 10 assists. He scored all seven in the final two minutes.
“[Williams] carried us home,” Young coach Tyrone Slaughter said. “We’ve kinda been on him. He came in today and we had a long talk. He said he understood and today he performed. That’s the way we expect him to play all the time.”
Ahmad Lee, who limped off the floor at halftime with a sprained ankle but managed to play in the second half, led Lincoln Park (11-4, 3-1) with 16 points and senior Ashton Flowers added 15. Senior Larry Hughes, the best dunker in the city, appeared to hang on the rim, grab a rebound and slam it home late in the game. The refs waved off the powerful basket.
“That was an incredibly hostile environment,” Jamison said. “Those are the games you want to play in.”
The Dolphins have the best player in the Public League in Clark, but he’s surrounded by a very inexperienced group. The team is steadily improving.
“Historically we have always gotten better in the second half,” Slaughter said. “We played 13 games in 16 days in December and we got beat up a little and were tired. But that’s over now and I’m excited. It is always good when you have the best player, and we have the best player. We will see how it all shakes out."