The Lincoln Abes are officially Michigan basketball royalty.

With a 58-51 win over the Romulus Summit Academy Dragons in the Division 2 state championship on Saturday, March 15 at the Breslin Center, coach Wydell Henry and the Abes became the first basketball team from Macomb County, regardless of gender, to repeat as state champions.

“Doing this from a program that we started from ground zero, we started and we started building and chopping and getting kids to believe in what you’re trying to do in the program you’re trying to build,” Henry said. “It’s a blessing. Man, I don’t take these things for granted. Man, to come up here two times in two years and go out 2-0, I’m excited. We’ll be back. We’re going to do it again.”

Seniors Markus Blackwell, Moses Blackwell, Chris Morgan, Da’Marion Bozeman and Jimmy Williams became two-time champions and Geon Hutchins, who transferred to Lincoln for this season, won his first ring.

“This was the whole goal for me,” Hutchins said. “It was to go back-to-back. And they welcomed me. And this whole season, we fought hard and we won.”

Moses Blackwell added: “This is surreal feeling, knowing that it’s barely been done. So it’s just crazy. So just feel good. To be honest, I can’t really explain.”

Trailing 15-10 with the first quarter waning, Morgan nailed a 3-pointer which was then complimented by a Markus Blackwell triple at the start of the second, both of which were part of a 10-0 run that spanned the end of the first and start of the second.

But as is expected of a championship caliber team, Summit had an answer. Andrew Ashwood put together his own 5-0 run and, combined with buckets by Marquan White and a Jordan Fuller free throw, the Dragons drew even at 25-25 going into halftime.

“We knew Summit was a good team,” Henry said. “We saw them all summer. Everybody was talking about them. You know, we knew we were on a collision course to see each other. It was a lot of, you know, anticipation for this game, and hopefully we gave all the fans what they wanted to see, a great game.”

The third quarter was the Dragons’ best. They scored 20 points — double what the Abes’ defensive goal for a period is — and led by as many as seven points twice.

But Lincoln didn’t go away. Da’Marion Bozeman scored six points in the last 2:11 of the quarter to keep the Abes close, including a coast-to-coast layup off a steal at the buzzer, then splashed a 3-pointer to start the fourth to draw Lincoln within one at 45-44.

“Last year, I was a completely different player than I was right now,” Bozeman said. “I got better, like, all around so, like, it was really just a big confidence thing for me, and just believing in myself and knowing that I could just do it. And then, like, I got my teammates and my coaches to push me, and I don’t know they expect the best out of me. I know they got my back, so I got theirs.”

Markus Blackwell nailed a 3-pointer on their next trip down to give the Abes their first lead of the second half with 6:43 left in the game as part of a 9-0 run spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth.

And though Summit eventually drew back into a tie, a quick answer from Moses Blackwell put the Abes back ahead for good thanks in part to the team going 7-for-9 from the free throw line in the final period.

“To be honest, the defender in front of me, I know he couldn’t guard me,” Moses Blackwell said. “Just a quick one-two and I’m at the basket.”

The Abes out-scored the Dragons 17-6 in the fourth quarter to pull and stay ahead. Summit Academy’s 51 points scored is their second-fewest in a game this season.

Markus Blackwell led the team with 13 points. Bozeman, Hutchins and Morgan all had 12 and Moses Blackwell had nine plus three assists.

The Abes finished the season 23-4. When their entire starting five was healthy, they went 20-1.

They won their last 15 games.

“It’s definitely a crazy feeling, man,” Bozeman said.

“It’s just like, back-to-back. It’s like we were just here, you know.

“You just got to handle business, a real good feeling to have.”