BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW — FOR SUN-TIMES MEDIA                           Feb 11, 2011

To be a championship team, you are going to be tested in tough environments, as Young found out Thursday afternoon in a second-round Public League playoff game at Lincoln Park.

The Dolphins (15-9) were able to withstand a huge crowd and a ferocious Lincoln Park rally, defeating the Lions 57-45.

“It’s always fun coming down and playing at Lincoln Park,” said Sam Thompson, who scored a game-high 20 points. “We know they’re always going to have a raucous crowd and they always try to get at you.”

No. 24 Young was able to get its lead up to 23 early in the fourth quarter before Lincoln Park went on a 14-4 run to cut the Dolphins’ advantage down to 49-40 halfway through the fourth quarter. Shamar Tucker led the Lincoln Park comeback by scoring 12 of his points in the final frame.

That’s when Thompson put the team on his shoulders, scoring six of the team’s last eight points to close out the scoring. Four of the eight came on emphatic dunks which made the crowd go crazy.

“We got that big lead and we seemed to just relax,” Thompson said. “We know people are going to bring their best games and we can’t just start to get lazy when we get up big.”

Young got off to a quick 15-5 start after the first quarter, led by Tommy Hamilton Jr., who scored five of his 13 points in the first frame.

The Lions (15-10) were able to keep it respectable in the second period, however, and trailed by only 13 at the half. Interestingly, in the second quarter, Young decided to hold the ball.

One of the coaches told Derrick Randolph, who finished with nine points, to “hold the ball and let’s see what they do.” The Dolphins held the ball for half a minute before Lincoln Park came and started guarding the junior point guard.

Charles George added nine points and Darien Walls had seven for the Lions.