Friday, November 26, 2010
Sports News

Railers thump Champaign Centennial 58-35

By Jeff Benjamin

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[November 26, 2010]  Well, is it just me or did it feel like beating the Chargers from Centennial was a long time coming? The Railers took out frustrations from seasons-past defeats at the hands of Centennial with a convincing 58-35 win on Wednesday to move to 2-0 on the season. The victory sets up a potential championship-deciding matchup on Friday night against the Potters of Morton.

Now, you would think that if Lincoln coach Neil Alexander was pleased about Monday's 12-point win over Belleville Althoff, then a 23-point win over coach Tim Lavin's Chargers would get him all ready for a relaxing Thanksgiving meal. Well, you would be wrong.

Coach Alexander addressed his concerns at the beginning of his postgame comments, saying, "I don't think we played as hard as we could have tonight."

Alexander continued, "We just had too many guys out of position, and we didn't play as well as we did on Monday night."

So, did the Railers get lucky? No, they did enough to get to a comfortable lead, but there were a number of areas the coach had concerns about.

"We didn't practice last night, and tonight, we played like it," Alexander said.

Defensively, the Railers held Centennial to single-digit scoring in three quarters and did not allow a 3-pointer (Centennial 0 for 12 beyond the arc). In the second half, Centennial managed only five made field goals and shot 39 percent for the game.

The game began just like Monday's game with teams trading leads and playing close. Midway through the first quarter, Lincoln would go on a run to take a lead they would not relinquish. The Railers (2-0) again relied on inside scoring to put up most of the first-quarter scoring. Nathaniel Smith scored four of the first six points for Lincoln and Jordan Nelson's basket put the Railers up for good at 8-7.

The buckets by Smith and Nelson started a 23-6 run that saw Centennial turning the ball over, pointing fingers at each other and laying blame on their teammates. If there was blame, it was most likely thanks to Lincoln's shooting and defense. Centennial coach Tim Lavin was forced to call two timeouts to try to settle his team down, but this was a game in which the Railers would not be denied.


One area that is always a concern for the Railers is rebounding. There will not be many games this season in which the Railers will win the battle of the boards. On Monday night, Centennial's Corvon Butler had 26 points and 14 rebounds against Danville. Those are the type of numbers that would worry any Railer fan. On Wednesday night, Butler was held in check with only nine points and five rebounds. For the game, Lincoln was only outrebounded by five (23-18), a major factor in the Railers' win.

Although he was not the leading scorer in the first quarter, early in the contest Smith was the engine that made the Lincoln motor run. He scored six in the quarter, but he also seemed to be in the right spot at the right time, both on offense and defense. The senior's ability to grab the loose ball, tip errant passes and get needed rebounds allowed Lincoln to sustain the first-half run. In fact, his play was the type that makes you think his stats should have been bigger, because he seemed to be everywhere. Smith finished with 11 points and six rebounds, although most at the broadcast position were thinking he clearly had a double-double.

For the second night in a row, and probably not the last time this season, Nelson led the way with 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. The senior, who continues to climb up the scoring list, hit three from well behind the line as well as scoring on drives to the basket by defenders who thought his only weapon was the 3-point shot. Nelson also had four assists and scored Lincoln's final nine points. Late in the game, Nelson did get up slowly after driving down the lane. He was able to stay in the contest but seemed to be favoring his lower leg.

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One player that Alexander praised was junior Jake Olson.

"I thought Jake played a great game," the coach said. "He really took advantage of his opportunity tonight."

Olson scored a career-high six points on two 3-pointers after being called on early due to foul trouble from starter Jordan Gesner.

The scoring was not as balanced as Monday night, when four players were in double figures. On Wednesday, Nelson and Smith were the only players above 10, with Olson and Kirby scoring six. Christian Van Hook tallied four while Brant Coyne scored an early 3. Although he didn't score much, a key part of Coyne's contribution was positioning himself offensively to keep Centennial's 6-foot-8 Josh Piper away from the basket defensively.

Lincoln did bring their shooting eyes, hitting 54 percent from the field, including 11 of 24 from long range.

After a well-deserved day off for Thanksgiving, the Railers are back in action Friday night at 8:30, taking on Morton. The Potters are also 2-0, staying perfect with a 61-39 win over Danville. The other contest saw Cahokia surprise Belleville Althoff 69-63. After two games, the tournament standings show Lincoln 2-0, Morton 2-0, Centennial 1-1, Cahokia 1-1, Danville 0-2 and Belleville Althoff 0-2.

___

LINCOLN (58)

Nelson 10 3-3 28, Smith 5 0-2 11, Kirby 2 0-0 6, Olson 2 0-0 6, Van Hook 2 0-0 4, Coyne 1 0-0 3, Gesner 0 0-0 0, Hays 0 0-0 0, Krusz 0 0-0 0. Team 22 3-5 58.
3-point field goals 11 (Nelson 5, Kirby 2, Olson 2, Smith 1, Coyne 1).

Centennial (35)

Piper 4 6-6 14, Butler 4 1-1 9, Kinney 3 0-0 6, Alexander 1 1-2 3, Richter-Shea 1 0-0 2, LeShoure 0 1-2 1. Team 13 9-11 35.

Score by quarters:

LINCOLN 16-13-15-14 58
Centennial 9-10-7-9 35

[By JEFF BENJAMIN]

Jeff Benjamin's Railer basketball articles

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