Young, Lincoln Park, crowd, etc., quite the entertainment By: Kevin Devitt Let’s see…a fight in the stands...a player ejection…two great teams…one great band… a packed house… and an electrifying dunk that could have very well raised Elvis himself from the dead… and that’s what you get when you match the Young Dolphins and the Lincoln Park Lions on a snowy Monday night at the historic Alumni Gym on the campus of Loyola University. I mean, can you beat that? For those that paid the $5 dollars to get in Monday night, they surely weren’t disappointed. It was the first time I got to see Young up close and personal and yes folks; they are a very talented squad. However, not to be outdone, the Lincoln Park Lions and head coach Tom Livatino who played without star senior Jeremy Montgomery found a way to keep things close until the final buzzer. I don’t know if I was more impressed with the sideline antics of Livatino and his counterpart , Young head Coach Tyrone Slaughter or more taken back by how well both teams played and the amount of emotion that was brought to the floor every possession. It was obvious this game was personal as Young senior A.J. Rompza raised his voice and pumped his fist at center court on numerous And 1 attempts made by his talented teammates. After all, Rompza had a reason to celebrate; he scored a game high 29 points. However, the emotion was just the same on the Lincoln Park sideline as the dejected Lions walked off the court after the loss, senior Charlie Outlaw didn’t hide his face as a stream of tears rolled down his cheeks. It’s not a lie to think that after Lincoln Park’s Courtney Bell laid down an earth shattering dunk late in the 2nd half to pull the Lions within 5 points, that Lincoln Park, more or less, did have a chance. Young, however, unfazed, and not to be out done, quickly shut the door on any hope of an upset, silencing the crowd possession after possession – offensively and defensively. I mean, I guess I can try and explain this in words; however, you probably would have had to be there. You had to feel the derogatory comments made by Tom Livatino as he strolled up the sideline, and you had to feel frustration Tyrone Slaughter felt as Stanford Brown was tossed from the game. You had to feel the band as they stole the show during timeouts and you really had to feel the roar of the crowd after Bell’s dunk. You had to see the tears flow from Charlie Outlaws face and you had to feel the triumph of victory Young felt as they escaped yet another close call. I guess I'm glad I went.
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