Geon Hutchins watched as his Lincoln teammates were called up one-by-one ahead of the Abes’ game against Eisenhower on Tuesday night.

Each player and coach, along with returning graduates who were on the team last year, received their custom-made 2023-24 state championship rings featuring white gems forming the iconic upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan surrounded by Lincoln red stones sandwiched vertically between all caps “state champions” lettering.

But Hutchins’ name wasn’t called. In order to get his ring, the first-year Abe and Oak Park transfer is going to need to help the Abes repeat.

He’s certainly doing his part — Tuesday’s MAC crossover against Eisenhower finished in a 71-47 victory for the Abes (3-0) with Hutchins scoring a game-high 18 points, all of which were in the first half to help Lincoln get and stay ahead.

“It was a lot of inspiration,” Hutchins said. “Like, that’s making me go harder, because last year at Oak Park, I (didn’t) have such a good year, but I’ve been grinding all summer and grinding all fall, and I’m just, I’m ready to play, man. I’m just ready.”

After notching just two points in the first quarter, Hutchins — a Northern Illinois commit — made two 3-pointers and six 2-pointers — including a falling fadeaway at the buzzer — to help the Abes to a 47-24 lead over the Eagles at halftime.

“Great, great kid,” said Lincoln head coach Wydell Henry about Hutchins. “Great young man. He came right in and knew what it was about, understood what it’s about. (We) told him how the program was and what we expected.

“(Hutchins) makes us No. 2 in the state. I think coming back, we probably would have been top five. But when you add another Division I guy on the team, it puts the spotlight on you even more, and it also makes people not like you even more. So we know we’re hunted.”

His co-star, Markus Blackwell (Eastern Illinois commit) scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half. Fellow returners Da’marion Bozeman and Chris Morgan contributed 10 and nine points, respectively.

Ignire Muhammed scored six points, all of which came in the fourth quarter when Henry deployed his reserves thanks to a comfortable 60-36 advantage. Jimmy Williams had four, Coby Bruce and Julian Edison had two, Rob Neal had one.

The ring ceremony took place before the game — and Henry is thankful that it’s finally come and gone.

“I’m glad it’s over with,” he said. “It’s been a long — since March — a long couple months. We’ve been waiting on it. Now that we got that out of the way, these guys that return, we can focus on winning another.”

The Abes weren’t only being watched by their fans while receiving their hardware; first-year Eisenhower head coach Anthony Muscat made sure his players paid attention.

“Well, it’s not every day you get to play a team of that caliber,” Muscat said. “I made them watch their ceremony before, just because it’s not every day you get to watch that. So the experience, I think, of playing a team like that this early is huge, but I just wish we had a full team to experience that.”

The Eagles fell to 1-4 with the loss but have been missing multiple starters in each of their games so far. They haven’t shied away from competition, either, having played MAC Red teams Roseville and Grosse Pointe South along with Lincoln.

As they continue to heal up and get closer to full strength, Muscat believes that the talent is there for Ike to make noise in the MAC White and beyond this season.

“We’re young, but we’re going to be a problem once they start getting going,” Muscat said. “They’re all good players. I mean, I think we have the ability to compete, at least to win our league. So once we get rolling, it’s going to be fun, so I’m hoping by January, everybody’s back.”

Randal Rice led Eisenhower with 15 points. Nolan Harbison and Christian Gherasim both had five, Alessandro Barone, John Hardiman and Braylon Burnside had four points each, Gabe Pettypool and Marko Trpchevski both had three points and both Antonio Vlassopoulos and Madox Moore had two points apiece.