Dispatch from Lincoln High: Mustangs Basketball Team Wins City Title

Lincoln High School boys’ varsity basketball team honored at City Hall for winning the city championship.

Dispatch from Lincoln High is a series that features the reporting of journalism students at Lincoln High School and its student newspaper, the Lincoln Log.

By Leandro Zheng

The Lincoln Mustangs capped off yet another successful winter basketball season. The 2022-23 winter basketball season comes to a close with nine all-league honors, four championship games, two state playoff runs, an undefeated season, a Player of the Year award, and a city title.

Lincoln Mustangs basketball has consistently been at the top of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) San Francisco Section’s Academic Athletic Association (AAA), with at least one team making the city championship game every season since the 2012-13 season, collecting nine city championship wins across all four teams in those ten seasons.

This past season, all four teams made their respective AAA city championship game, with the boys’ varsity team emerging victorious against the Cardinals of Lowell High School with their second city title in a row.

The boys’ varsity team finished their season with a 27-4 overall win-loss record, which includes non-league and pre-season games, and a 13-1 win-loss record in the AAA league, tied with Lowell for league best. Their only AAA loss was against Lowell on February 13th, marking Lincoln’s first league loss since 2019.

“It was bound to happen. If there was a team that was going to [break the streak], it was going to be Lowell,” says Carl Jacobs, the head coach of the boys’ varsity team and the athletic director for Lincoln High School.

The rivalry between the two schools is known throughout San Francisco as the match up to watch every year. Jacobs compares it to one of the most storied and famous rivalries in college basketball history.

“The Lincoln-Lowell rivalry is sort of like North Carolina-Duke. You can throw the records out the window, you never know how that game is going to end.”

The Mustangs made up for the loss with a tremendous 54-27 victory over the Cardinals less than two weeks later in the city championship game. Lincoln’s smothering defense held Lowell to just ten points in the second half, resulting in a 14-point differential in the final quarter. This marked the first win against Lowell after the loss in February that broke the four-year win streak.

“The big payback. That’s what it felt like,” Jacobs remarks.

Players credit the championship win to the unselfish style of basketball that the team had perfected over the past two seasons.

“The biggest factor of winning the city championship was all of us sharing the ball and the hustle we had, in which Lowell couldn't keep up with,” Nikita Kartsev, a senior forward on the team, mentions.

After the city championship win, the Mustangs entered the 2023 CIF Division III State Championship playoffs as the number six seed in the Northern section and defeated Gilroy's Christopher High School Cougars 72-66 on home court.

After defeating the Cougars in the opening round, the team traveled to face off against the Oakland Technical Bulldogs in the second round in an iteration of the classic “The City vs The Town'' rivalry, which is renowned in sports of all levels. This high profile game brought together people of the Bay Area, including three NFL stars to attend; San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks Trey Lance and Josh Johnson, as well as Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters, were spotted sitting in the bleachers.

“We had a lot of people from the city, even from other schools. It was great to see ‘The City’ behind us,” says Jacobs.

Jacobs had previously coached in Oakland before being hired at Lincoln High School. He describes the atmosphere as amazing, and that a large part of that is because Oakland Tech is a sports-focused school.

“Great basketball atmosphere. I told these guys if you never play basketball again, this is the atmosphere you want to play in.”

The Mustangs led 54-46 after three quarters against the reigning Oakland Athletic League champions, but ultimately fell in a five-point loss after a 13-point scoring deficit in the fourth quarter.

“That’s just not us at all. The fourth quarter is usually our best-scoring quarter. It was the worst fourth quarter we’ve had all season long,” explains Jacobs.

After the loss and their season cut short, the team experienced intense and intimate emotions in the locker room.

“Post loss of the boys’ state games was the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen the team,” recalls Aaron Lee, the team photographer. “The team went through a lot together, and seeing the people that were always cheerful and happy breakdown into tears was a moment that really hit me. It made me realize how much basketball meant to these boys.”

“This one game didn’t define us,” said Jacobs to the San Francisco Standard in an article published on March 3rd. “Even though this is not the result we wanted, my heart was filled. All you can ask as a coach is for your guys to leave it all on the floor, and they did that.”

Throughout the season, the team was composed of ten returning players from the previous season’s city championship-winning roster. With the high experience comes high expectations, and Coach Jacobs believes the team underachieved with their second-round state playoff exit.

“I think we became complacent. I didn’t think we went after it like we should have or we could have,” says Jacobs. “It was a challenge for us to play to a high, intense level every game when teams weren’t as challenging in our league.”

Jacobs has worked at Lincoln High School for 39 years, and has strongly impacted the lives of all the players that go through the basketball program. In October of 2022, Jacobs was presented with the Golden State Warriors Impact Warrior Award at Chase Center for his years of spreading his passion for basketball around the San Francisco Bay Area.

“Coach Carl isn’t like any other coach. He taught me a lot and changed my perspective on basketball to be a better player,” Kartsev says.

“That’s what all coaches are here for. To change lives, or to enhance lives through sports,” Jacobs responds. “If all you did was have a good time playing basketball, I failed. If you didn’t learn anything you can take in your life, I failed.”

In preparation for the next season, Jacobs and the rest of the coaching staff aren’t letting the final season result hold them back. The team will soon be returning to frequent workouts and practices just three weeks after the end of the season.

“The program is always moving forward and taking steps forward no matter who is here. Nobody outworks us.”

After the league year concluded, All-League teams were selected and announced for the CIF AAA San Francisco Section. The AAA All-League teams are an annual honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every season. There are two All-League teams each for boys and girls, alongside multiple honorable mentions. There are also two Player of the Year awards, one for boys and one for girls, which highlights the two best players from the AAA section each season.

This year, Lincoln’s senior guard Justin Aquino received the boys Player of the Year Award. He joins his older brother Jordan Aquino, who won the award last season, as one of the few to receive this honor.

Three of the five players selected for the boys All-League First Team are Lincoln Mustangs: senior guard Jeremiah Aquino, junior forward Corteraius Taylor, and Justin Aquino. Senior forward Quentin Kennedy received Second Team honors, and senior forward Nikita Kartsev received an honorable mention.

Jacobs announced that the Alumni Game is scheduled to return for the first time since 2019. The Alumni Game is an annual exhibition match at Lincoln High School, where people from schools across the city come together to compete and socialize. Jacobs expects the current senior class and previous classes to return to Lincoln for this event and invites all to attend.

“When Lincoln basketball alumni come together, it’s sort of like the city comes together,” Jacobs notes.

The game is scheduled to take place on November 24, 2023, at Lincoln High School.

Reported and written by Lincoln High School student journalist Leandro Zheng. We encourage student journalists in high school and college to volunteer as writers for Supervisor Engardio’s newsletter. Interested? Apply here. Do you know a story you would like to see featured in the newsletter? Tell us about it here.