BOULDER - The second Class 4A boys basketball semifinal Thursday might have taken place in Broomfield's proverbial backyard, but Lincoln treated the Coors Events Center like its own playground.

The Lancers beat Broomfield 62-44 to advance to a state basketball final for the first time in school history. Lincoln will meet Ralston Valley at 6 p.m. Saturday for the 4A championship.

Against Broomfield, Lincoln ran the floor expertly, particularly in a near-blowout third quarter, always finding the player who best could convert.

"What I liked is, we were able to control the tempo of the game," Lancers coach Vince Valdez said.

"That's something we're getting better at. Obviously, we can go north-south pretty well, that's our reputation. But we're starting to execute in the halfcourt as well."

Lincoln (19-7) looked to center Ruot Pal (pronounced Rote Pall) as a finisher. The 6-foot-7 senior slammed home two baskets and finished with 14 points. Pal said the Lan- cers defense keyed the victory.

"There were rumors they had a lot of shooters, but I've never seen them (play before)," Pal said. "We were told just to contest everything and (allow) no wide- open shots."

Pal played a part in the Eagles' troubles, coming outside to prevent easy passes to the guards.

"He's tall, he's long and he's able to move laterally," Valdez said of Pal. "This isn't the first time we've had him out on the perimeter defending guards."

The Lancers held down the Eagles' sharpshooters to insignificant numbers until the fourth quarter. Ryan Garren was the only Broomfield player in double figure,s and he scored only 11 points.

The Lancers also got a huge game from one of its smallest players. Kadeem Thomas, a 5-7 senior, scored 21 points and ran wild on the bigger college floor.

"In our transition (game), if we have just three more steps, we can beat anybody up and down the floor," Thomas said. "We're really fluid on offense."

Lincoln needed the contribution of Thomas and Pal with leading scorer Jorge Gutierrez being called for a few offensive fouls and having to sit out major chunks of the game in foul trouble. He finished with eight points.

Lincoln's inside muscle was supplied by 6-3 junior Francisco Cruz, who scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Thomas added seven boards.

Lincoln......16	10	19	17	-	62
Broomfield......8	9	10	17	-	44

L - Danny Rodriguez 0 0-0 0, Jorge Gutierrez 3 2-2 8, Francisco Cruz 5 3-4 13, Lac Nguyen 0 0-0 0, Kadeem Thomas 7 6-8 21, Saul Torres 0 0-0 0, Ruot Pal 7 0-1 14, Ismael Ramos 0 0-0 0, Eric Carrasco 0 0-0 0, Erick Presciado 3 0-0 6. Totals 25 11-15 62.

B - Doug Fankell 4 0-0 8, Tim Halliday 3 0-0 8, Alex Barthule 1 0-0 2, Ryan Garren 4 2-4 11, Lane VandeHoef 0 2-2 2, Brian Travis 0 0-0 0, Zac Claeys 1 0-0 2, Luke Gorman 0 0-0 0, Andrew Nobles 1 0-0 2, Kevin Fiedler 0 0-0 0, Conor Nehf 1 0-0 2, Luke Stahler 1 5-6 7. Totals 16 9-12 44.

Three-point goals - L, Thomas; B, Halliday 2, Garren. Technical fouls - Torres.

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