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LINCOLN 1, 2, 3 TIMES A CHAMP

Vincent Jackson, this is your life.

Early Saturday evening when you walked into Assembly Hall, you were just another in a seemingly endless parade of talented East St. Louis Lincoln basketball players, part of a group of 12 whose goal was to cop an

unprecedented third straight Illinois basketball championship.

But by the time you walked out of the arena-after hitting a clutch 18-foot jumper just inside the three-point line as the horn sounded ending the third overtime period of the Class AA title game against Peoria Central-you were officially a March Madness legend.

Jackson`s shot gave East St. Louis Lincoln (29-4) a 59-57 triple-overtime victory over the state`s No. 1-ranked and previously unbeaten Lions, and ignited a celebration on the hardwood floor that rivaled any of the Tigers`

last two victory parties.

So, Vincent Jackson, how does it feel knowing that your history-making shot will be talked about for years and years whenever high school hoops fans meet to talk shop?

”It`s even better than the last two,” said Jackson, the only Tiger who played on all three championship teams. ”It`s a dream come true. People kept asking me all year long, `Are you gonna do it? Are you gonna do it? Are you gonna get three straight?` And now God has answered my prayer.”

”This is the greatest game I`ve ever been in,” said Tigers coach Bennie Lewis, who has been in 479 of them in his 17 years, and come out the victor in 374.

Lewis became the second Illinois coach (Lawrenceville`s Ron Felling is the other) to guide his teams to four state titles, and the Tigers moved into a tie for the most state titles by any Illinois school.

”It`s great to have made a little bit of history, and to have been a small part of it,” Lewis said.

Trailing by seven points with six minutes left in regulation, Peoria Central (32-1) outscored the Tigers 12-2 in the next 4 1/2 minutes, taking a 46-44 lead on a 10-footer by senior forward Mike Hughes with 1:12 left in the fourth quarter.

Lincoln`s Chris McKinney had a short jumper go in, out, and back in again to tie it up with :49 left, but Peoria got the ball back for the first of a handful of last-chance shots at victory.

Tyrone Howard missed a jumper with :05 left, but the ball went out of bounds to the Lions. After a couple of timeouts, Tyrone Howard inbounded the ball to Indiana-bound guard Chris Reynolds (10 points on 2-of-12 shooting), who was called for charging with :02 left.

Reynolds made a key mental mistake midway through the first OT period when he received a technical foul after protesting a personal foul call on him.

Peoria`s 48-46 lead quickly turned into a 50-48 deficit when Jackson (16 points, 8 rebounds) hit two free throws and Rico Sylvester added two more on the technical with 1:18 left.

”That killed us,” said Peoria Central coach Charles Buescher. ”I`d like to see the players decide the game. He`d have had to say something awfully wrong (for the technical call).”

East St. Louis got the ball back and could have iced things, but Sylvester turned the ball over on a five-seconds call with :37 left.

Reynolds missed a three-point try with :10 left, but again it went out of bounds to the Lions. Once again Reynolds put up a shot, and once again it failed. But Hughes (21 points, 9 rebounds) snared the ball off the boards, turned around and sank a 6-footer at the buzzer to force a second OT.

Both teams had a bucket apiece in the second OT, and when Howard missed a last-second shot for Peoria, Sylvester rebounded to put the game into OT No. 3. Though no one would have believed it then, the best was yet to come.

Lincoln led 54-52 when Charles White canned a three at the 1:16 mark to put Peoria up by one. Twenty-one seconds later, Sylvester answered with a three of his own, making it 57-55.

Reynolds` two free throws with 29 seconds left tied it again and had fans craving for another OT, but Jackson decided to call it a day, sinking the winning jumper to put an exclamation mark on his high school career.

The triple-overtime affair was the longest in the 82-year history of the state tournament, and only the third overtime game ever. Hebron (1952) and Mt. Carmel (1985) were the other overtime winners.

While Lewis` kids were walking on Cloud 9 after the unbelievable way they earned the championship, their coach was pleased for a few other reasons.

Lewis had been hinting around that he may call it quits after the school year ends, because the East St. Louis Board of Education is attempting to limit the team`s future travel limit to a 50-mile radius of the school, and also has cut back on funds for equipment.

”When they make their decision, I`ll make mine,” said Lewis afterwards. Will the state title have any impact of the board`s final decision?

”Definitely so,” he replied. ”This is a great program. It took a while to get where it is. But if they come in and make cuts and limit our travel, they`re gonna mess us up.”

But for now, it`s time to take a break and smell the fruits of success.

Jackson said he`ll go home, polish up his two other championship medals and wear all three to school on Monday.

”I`ll probaly wear them all week,” he said. ”Or maybe all month.”

Or maybe as long as they remember his shot.