Tim Rich helped continue a season of firsts at Lincoln.
PROFILE
TIM RICH
ALL-NWA MEDIA COACH OF THE YEAR SCHOOL: Lincoln NOTABLE: Led Lincoln to its first conference championship in boys basketball since 1986. … Beat Bauxite 49-44 for school’s first state tournament victory in school history. … Finished sixth year at Lincoln, including fourth year as head coach.
The Wolves went 22-6 in boys basketball this season while winning a game in the state tournament for the fi rst time. Lincoln also finished 11-3 in conference play to win a league title for the fi rst time since 1986.
For those accomplishments, Rich is the All-NWA Media Coach of the Year for schools in Class 5A and below.
“Tim does a great job and he knows how to handle the kids,” Lincoln athletic director Deon Birkes said. “We’re happy to have him on our staff at Lincoln.”
Lincoln’s milestones in basketball followed a successful season in football when Lincoln set a school record with 11 wins and won games in the state playoffs for the fi rst time.
“Every boy in our off -season basketball program was up there in the stands cheering the football team on,” Rich said. “We were so happy with the football team’s success and we carried it over into our basketball season. When you looked up into the stands, you saw the football guys making noise and supporting our basketball players.
“Now, with baseball season going it, we hope that success we’ve had will continue to carry over.”
Lincoln won its fi rst state tournament game by beating Bauxite 49-44. Senior leader Ossy Escareno led the way with 13 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 steals for the Wolves, who held on after building a 10-point lead in the second half. Lincoln advanced to face Brookland, the eventual state champions in Class 4A, who eliminated the Wolves 48-25.
Lincoln started the season with 15 consecutive wins before losing consecutive conference games to Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove. The Wolves quickly righted themselves following the losses and finished on an upswing with solid play in both the district and regional tournaments.
“Those two losses were a good wakeup call,” said Rich, who completed his fourth season as boys coach at Lincoln. “Our kids got a little lax and they realized that and came back and fi nished strong.”
Rich will have plenty of work to do during the off-season for a Lincoln team that lost 10 seniors, including standout guards Ossy Escareno and Payton Hulse. But the Wolves will build next year’s team around Shandon Goldman, a 6-foot-8 forward who averaged 11.8 points and 5.2 points as a junior.
Goldman made eight 3-pointers and scored 23 points in a regional tournament game against Subiaco Academy.
“Ossy’s been our stats leader for the last three years and we’re going to miss him a lot,” Rich said. “Hulse has been running the show at guard for us and the leadership and ability of our all seniors, really, is going to be hard to replace. But we’ve got some guys coming back who we think will step in and do a good job.”