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Monday, Feb. 24

High school basketball

[FEB. 24, 2003] 

Boys intercity:
At Stanford

Pontiac        7   22   38     49

Olympia     16   24   39    52

Olympia - Williams 1-0-3, Kieser 2-6-10, Dillenburg 2-1-5, Elliott 5-0-12, Criswell 0-4-4, Olson 6-2-14, Schultz 2-0-4.  Totals 18-13-52.  Three point field goals (3) - Elliott 2, Willaims.

Junior varsity - Olympia 56, Pontiac 36.

At Peoria

Lincoln                    6   19   31     55

Peoria Woodruff     6   20   25     30

Lincoln - Gallagher 0-0-0, Bunch 2-1-5, Young 8-6-22, Schrader 5-1-12, Werner 2-0-6, Heidbreder 0-0-0, Whalen 0-0-0, Pickering 0-0-0, Peters 1-0-2, Charron 0-0-0, Farmer 3-0-7, Komnick 0-1-1.  Totals - 21-9-55.  Three point field goals (4) - Werner 2, Schrader, Farmer. 

Coach Alexander said: "Our kids are going to be focused for 32 minutes with our defense. That's the key to the success, that's the key to the program. ... This group here can really turn it on. They are a very good defensive team."

Class A regionals
Games today
At Stanford

Game 1 - 7:30 p.m. - Hartsburg-Emden (4) vs. Olympia (5)

At Mount Pulaski

Game 1 - 7:30 p.m. - Maroa-Forsyth (4) vs. Mount Pulaski (5)

LCC vs. Northland Baptist

[FEB. 24, 2003]  The Lincoln Christian College men's basketball team traveled to Northland Baptist Bible College and lost Friday night, 79-68. The Preachers were down only six at halftime, 38-32.

Leading scorers for Lincoln were Caleb Edson with 18 and John Holderby and Tim Schultz, who scored 14 each. Schultz and Kyle Rogier grabbed six rebounds each.

The Pioneers (11-19) were led in scoring by Craig Yarnell, who had 25 points and eight assists.

LCC, 10-19, will host the NCCAA Midwest Regional Tournament next weekend, Feb. 27- March 1. The Preachers play Friday at 8 p.m. against Moody Bible.

[Aaron Johnson]

[Photos by Bob Frank]

Alexander leads Birds past Marshall on the road

[FEB. 24, 2003]  HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Gregg Alexander scored 21 points for the Illinois State men's basketball team as the Redbirds notched their first road victory of the year, a 57-53 win over Marshall, as part of ESPN's Bracket Buster Saturday in Huntington, W.Va.

Illinois State (6-18) was also paced by Baboucarr Bojang, who had 11 points and eight rebounds, while Casey Reid contributed 10 points and four assists.

Marshall (11-12) was led by Ronald Blackshear, who scored 16 points, and Marvin Black, who added 12.

Alexander scored the first bucket of the game as the Redbirds got off on the right foot before Marshall attacked and led by five with 17:00 to play in the first half. ISU cut the difference to one off a jumper by Vince Greene, leaving the Thundering Herd with a 10-9 edge with 14 minutes to go. Marshall kept the lead until 1:55 to go in the first before Alexander hit again, from the 3-point line, and gave ISU a 23-20 advantage en route to a 27-22 halftime lead.

[to top of second column in this article]

Illinois State came out strong in the second, never trailing again in the game, and led by as many as 16, at 43-27 with 14:12 to play. There was a threat, however, as Marshall stormed back to within one, 48-49, at the 6:31 mark after Blackshear hit a trey of his own; but the Birds held on for the win after Alexander hit a jumper with 43 seconds remaining to secure the Redbird victory, 57-53.

Illinois State returns to conference action on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at Drake. Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m.

[Erica Fricke, assistant director of media relations, Illinois State University]

Articles from the past week

[FEB. 24, 2003]  With Lincoln High School's 55-30 victory over Peoria Woodruff on Saturday night, coach Neil Alexander boldly went where NO former Railer coach had ever gone before -- to a record No. 272 win! IF he stays here, he'll easily surpass 300 and may get as many as 500 or more!

Yes, LCHS has had a lot of good players during his tenure, but few know how to put them together to produce poetry in motion out on the court. And that's what Railsplitter basketball is synonymous with.

For those of us who've been treated to great basketball in Roy S. Anderson gymnasium for several decades, we're probably too close to it. We may not even be able to truly appreciate what we have while we have it.

Try this test sometime: Find someone in the crowd who is NOT from Lincoln. Ask THEM their assessment of Railer hoops. I have done this. I invited several friends to games over a three- to five-year period and asked them their thoughts. They couldn't get over it -- a town our size being able to not only compete with the Chicago Kings and Proviso Easts, but oftentimes beat them!

Not many towns can lay claim to the kind of domination that coach Alexander's teams have had, but then few really know what goes into making a championship team and program.

The LDN just pauses now to say CONGRATULATIONS, Railers and Coach "Al." May there be many more to follow!

The Illinois Fighting Illini rode the second-half hot shooting of senior Brian Cook to send Northwestern down to defeat 73-61. Cook's dominating play accounted for a line that showed 17 points, 10 rebounds while limiting himself to just two fouls. Cook, however, did receive a great amount of help from Roger Powell's 20 tallies and Dee Brown's 18 markers. But, it was Cook's work on the glass that sent the Illini to a resounding 32-24 edge on the boards, to the delight of 15,429 happy United Center fans. Illinois shot 55 percent from the field while holding the Wildcats to 45 percent shooting. Cook is some 90 points from climbing into fifth place on Illinois' all-time scoring list. Also, with the win, Coach Bill Self netted his 200th collegiate victory! Next up for the Illini is a Tuesday night home date with the pesky Hoosiers of Indiana University.

[to top of second column in this article]

Alexander lifts Redbirds over Marshall in Bracket-Buster

Gregg Alexander's outstanding play lifted the ISU Redbirds to their first road win of the season, at Marshall in ESPN's Bracket-Buster series. Alexander continues to will this struggling team back to life. [Click here for game report from ISU.]

CONGRATULATIONS to coach Matthew Stoltzenburg and his team for winning the 8A state basketball title! Look for these young hoopsters at an upcoming installment of "FANdamonium"…

Join Greg Taylor and his guests, Jeff Benjamin and Tom Larry, as they discuss Lincoln Railer hoops and a host of other topics tonight at 6. You can link to them right here on the LDN, watch them on CITV Channel 5 or listen to them on FIX 96.3 on your FM radio dial. It promises to be a great show. Call them at 735-3306 with your question or comment.

[Jeff Mayfield]

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