Blackwell twins help Warren Lincoln become a new MHSAA boys basketball powerhouse

EAST LANSING — The difference between Warren Lincoln twins Markus and Moses Blackwell is stark.

We’re not talking about a difference like between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, who played not-so-identical siblings in the 1988 film “Twins,” but the Blackwells' height differential is glaring all the same.

Moses is, well, he is listed at 5 feet 8.

“Hey, “ he said. “I’m 5-8 ... 5-7, 5-8, 5-9, 5-10. I play 6-3 so it don’t matter.”

Markus, meanwhile, is listed at 6-2.

“I play my size,” said Markus.

They both play, and play well.

The Blackwells, who are juniors, were the sparkplugs to the greatest season in Warren Lincoln history, capping it off Saturday night with a 53-39 victory over Grand Rapids Christian to capture the Division 2 state championship before 6,337 fans in the Breslin Center.

The Blackwell twins are the undisputed leaders of this outfit and the two have been playing together for what seems like forever.

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“It feels good, doing it with my brother,” Moses said. “We’ve been working hard since we were 5 years old. We set this goal out and it feels good to finally achieve them.”

They have been best buddies since infancy and Moses seems to be the family spokesperson, but can’t explain the size discrepancy.

“I don’t know,” he said. “To be honest, when we were babies, I was bigger. It’s funny.”

While Moses scored 12 points, all on 3-point shots, and effectively ran the offense, Markus scored a game-high 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting, which also included four 3-pointers.

Lincoln (24-4) led by eight midway through the third quarter when Christian scored seven straight; Moses ended that run by hitting a 3-point bomb for a four-point lead leading into the fourth quarter.

That is when Markus took over, opening the fourth period with a triple. Following a Christian hoop, Markus scored on a layup and then added two free throws for a nine-point advantage.

Jaylan Ouwinga (16 points) scored twice for Christian (26-3), but Markus banged in another 3-pointer with 3:08 left and the Abes finished with a 9-0 spurt.

This was something of a coming-out party for the twins, especially Markus.

“I just had to lock in,” he said. “Yeah, it was locking in and focusing on shots. My team, they just get me open so when they get me open I know I have to make the shots.”

Delivering Markus the ball was Moses, who keeps an eye open for his brother, with no cash involved.

“Naw, he does it for free,” Markus said, laughing. “We’re good friends, we talk about everything.”

Getting the ball to Markus is nothing new for Moses, but he makes sure he gets all of his teammates involved even though he is a good shooter, too.

“I would say so, but I’m a facilitator first,” Moses said. “I’m a pass-first point guard. Whatever it takes to get my guys open, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve got to get my guys open.”

The state title reaffirmed everything Lincoln coach Wydell Henry has been preaching about the twins for the last couple of years.

The drumbeats grew louder this season when Henry knew what this team could become by tournament time.

“I’ve been talking about them all year,” Henry said. “I don’t think no one had a chance to really see them because we weren’t on the map like that. I’ve been telling people, 'the Blackwell twins, they’re pretty good.' ”

They’re very good, and for different reasons.

Henry was comfortable putting the ball in Moses’ hands and allowing him to lead the Abes to the promised land.

“The little one, he’s our floor general,” Henry said. “He makes us go, he’s our heart and soul. He hit some big shots tonight.

“Hopefully after tonight, someone else will look at him and say: ‘Hey, this little dude can play,’ because he’s a player. He plays the right way. He doesn’t force anything, he doesn’t take shots he’s not supposed to take. He plays the right way.”

So does Markus, who takes more shots because he has terrific range and doesn’t look to force shots if he hasn’t had the ball a lot.

“Markus is a Division I ball player; he’s one of the top players in the state,” said Henry. “He’s averaged 25 points in the state tournament and that’s big-time for me. I told him if he wants to be big-time, if he wants people to recognize him, he’s got to step up when the lights come on. He did and he answered the call.”

Also answering the call was Henry, who was an assistant coach when Detroit Pershing won the Class A state title under AW Canada in 2009.

Henry replaced Canada and coached the Doughboys for six seasons before resigning to take over at Lincoln six years ago.

Pershing won five state championships, dating back to the great Will Robinson in the 1960s. The school produced stars such as Spencer Haywood, Ralph Simpson, Steve Smith and Willie Mitchell, among others.

Henry did well at Pershing, but wanted something else. And Lincoln, with no basketball history, was something else.

“I wanted to start fresh,” Henry said. “I wanted to see if I could build a program. At Pershing, I’m not going to say it was easy, but it was the mecca of basketball in the city.”

The tradition of the school seemed to take its toll on Henry. The pressure, which was mostly imagined, got to be too much for him.

“At Pershing, everybody said we won because I was at Pershing, it’s easy to do it there,” he said. “I had some opportunities to win when I was the head coach at Pershing, got to the quarterfinals, didn’t get it done.”

This is Henry’s sixth season at Lincoln and little by little, his program came into focus, growing in stature until it reached the summit Saturday night with the state title.

“I got over here and I told my guys I’ve got a team, that’s good enough to win it,” he said. “I told them I’ve got to get this monkey off my back and show people I am one of the better coached in the state.

“That was my whole mission to show, hey, I can get it done, too.”

He certainly did get it done ... with the help of the Blackwell twins.

“I know how much work we put in,” Markus said. “It just came back and we’re successful.”

That success is not going to be a one-year deal. Before he left town Saturday night, Moses may have made reservations for next March.

“We’ll be back next year,” he said with a nod. “We’re going to do this next year.”

Mick McCabe is a former longtime columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at mick.mccabe11@gmail.com. Follow him @mickmccabe1. Order his book, “Mick McCabe’s Golden Yearbook: 50 Great Years of Michigan’s Best High School Players, Teams & Memories,” right now at McCabe.PictorialBook.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Warren Lincoln's Blackwell twins: Duo leads to state basketball title