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 Hitting a shot with eight seconds remaining to beat the Railers
earlier this season in Lincoln, Gilchrese did one better on Saturday
night by draining his only 3 of the night, off the backboard,
with five seconds left in overtime to stun the Railers and their
faithful 51-48 at Willard Duey Gymnasium.
The win gave the Senators a regular-season sweep over Lincoln,
with a potential third matchup looming in the regionals the first week of March in Lincoln. Falling to Springfield not only
cost Lincoln its eight-game winning streak, it has almost guaranteed
that the conference crown will land somewhere in Springfield, most
likely with the Spartans of Southeast.
Coming off a 90-point performance on Friday night, no one honestly
thought the Railers would be able to match that against the
defensive-minded Senators. Also, senior Jordan Nelson would be hard-pressed to come close to his record-setting performance of 48
points. Well, there were 48 points scored; it just took the entire
team a whole game and then some to do it.
After a Nelson basket put the first points on the scoreboard,
Springfield was able to run out to a 7-2 lead, thanks to more
difficulties by the Railer defense in keeping the ball out of the
paint. As has been the case many times this season, it was the 3
that brought the Railers back. Senior Brant Coyne connected on two
straight 3s, one a high-arching 3 over the long reach of
Springfield's Willie Wiley and the other near the top of the key, to
put Lincoln back up 8-7.
During some back-and-forth, Nelson hit two 3s to put Lincoln
up 14-11. Springfield ended the quarter strong when, down one,
Thalamus Alexander threw up a heave from the volleyball line at the
buzzer and banked it in at the buzzer. Gonna be one of those nights
again.
In the early stages of the second quarter, Springfield was able to
climb to their largest lead of the night at 24-18. Another 3
from Nelson and the first points of the night from Nathaniel Smith
brought the game to one. Down 28-23, Smith again pulled the Railers
(21-4, 10-3) closer, and Austin Kirby gave Lincoln every bit of
momentum he could by firing one in from three-quarter court at the
buzzer to knot the game at 28 going into the half.
The Railers were able to use the push to grab an early lead as Smith
scored just 10 seconds into the quarter, giving Lincoln the lead
for the first time since 14-13. Nelson was fouled shooting a 3
and, after making all three free throws, Lincoln was up 33-29 and
things were starting to look a little better.
Well, not so fast. That's when the lid was dropped over the
Lincoln basket. The Railers missed their next 12 shots of the
quarter as Springfield ran off six in a row to take a 34-33 lead.
The game was tied at 34 at the end of the fourth thanks to a Smith
free throw.
The fourth quarter was a battle of a very physical nature. When Smith
scored with 7:07 to go, it ended the Railers' field goal drought at
just over a quarter. Springfield (11-12, 7-6) took the lead 40-37,
only to see Nelson hit from long range to even it up at 40.
After Coyne's drive to the basket tied the game at 42, Smith's
two free throws put the Railers back on top 44-42. Nelson's two free
throws gave Lincoln their last lead of the night at 46-44 and, after
Springfield tied it, the Senators had one final shot to win it in
regulation, but that fell short.
Kramer's layup gave Springfield the lead in overtime, only to be
matched by Nelson's basket. After a miss by Lincoln's leading
scorer, Gilchrese held the ball at half-court and, at about eight
seconds, made his move, took a couple of dribbles and just past the
3-point line, banked one in. The Railers' final attempt,
a desperation throw from Kirby, did not go in and the stunned Railers
made their way off the court, avoiding the throng of Senator fans
storming the court the celebrate the upset.
Meaning no disrespect, I'm sure most of Railer Nation left wondering,
'How could a team that lost to Rochester the week before by 21 turn
around and beat us for the second time this year?' Yeah, I'm
wondering the same thing. Coach Neil Alexander had a very simple
summation. "They made the plays, we didn't," Alexander said.
"Springfield is a good team and they earned this victory."
The Railers were led by Nelson's 24, half of his previous night's
school record. Smith was the only other Railer in double figures,
with 11. Coyne added eight, Kirby's half-court buzzer-beater accounted
for his only points, while Van Hook added a pair.
The Railer sophomore squad also needed overtime, but they got the
48-44 win.
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So, where does this leave the Railers? There are five regular-season games left, but the most important part of the season will
come about this week. By the end of this week, the IHSA seeds will
be released as will the pairings for the state tournament.
The next time the Railers take the court, they will know the path
they will have to travel to their ultimate goal in Peoria. The
frustrating thing for the fans, as well as the coaches, is what team
will show up. The team that seemed to be clicking, at least
offensively, on all cylinders Friday night could be the type of team
that would have Railer Nation descending en masse on Peoria for a
shot at a trophy.
There is, however, the Mr. Hyde to Dr. Jekyll. It is not out of
the question that for the third straight time, Lincoln may not get
out of a regional they will be hosting. The IHSA has certainly done
the Railers no favors in assigning teams to that regional. In fact,
The Essig Report, a website that analyzes teams through
a number of mathematical computations, has all five of the teams in
the Lincoln regional in the top 40 in the state in Class 3A.
The records of the teams in the Lincoln regional going into this
week's seed meeting: Lincoln 21-4, SHG 16-6, Morton 15-7, Lanphier
13-9 and Springfield 11-12. How the seeds will fall, who knows? On
paper, it looks like the Railers should be a No. 1 seed, but they have
lost three games to teams in the regional.
 My projection for the seeds: 1. Lincoln, 2. SHG, 3. Morton,
4. Lanphier and 5. Springfield. The schedule will play out where the
4 and 5 will play on Monday of regional week, with the winner
playing the No. 1 seed on Tuesday. Seeds 2 and 3 will match up Wednesday
night, with the two remaining teams playing for the regional title
on Friday.
Make sure you check in with Lincoln Daily News for the latest on
the seeds and pairings. As soon as each are announced, you'll be
able to find the information here.
The Railers are back in action with a home doubleheader this
weekend. Friday, SHG visits Roy S. Anderson with the Railers hoping
to make up for the one-point loss to the Cyclones earlier. On
Saturday, Lincoln will get a second look at Decatur Eisenhower. The
Railers beat the Panthers in the first round of the Collinsville
Holiday Classic 42-32.
Other conference scores from Saturday:
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Southeast 77, Rochester 45
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SHG 76, Taylorville 30
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Lanphier 92, Jacksonville 64
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LINCOLN (48)
Nelson 7-17 6-7 24, Smith 4-12 3-5 11, Coyne 3-6 0-0 8, Kirby 1-4
0-0 3, Van Hook 1-2 0-0 2, Gesner 0-3 0-0 0, Cook 0-1 0-0 0. Team
16-49 9-12 48.
3-point field goals 7-22 (Nelson 4-8, Coyne 2-4,
Kirby 1-4, Smith 0-1, Van Hook 0-1, Cook 0-1, Gesner 0-3).
Rebounds 23 (Van Hook 9), turnovers 7.
Springfield (51)
Wiley 16, Kramer 12, Alexander 10, Gilchrese 9, Poole 4. Team 19-41
9-11 51.
3-point field goals 4-18 (Kramer 2, Alexander, Gilchrese).
Rebounds 27, turnovers 12.
 Score by quarters:
End of first quarter -- Springfield 16, LCHS 14
Halftime -- LCHS 28, Springfield 28
End of third quarter -- LCHS 34, Springfield 34
End of regulation -- LCHS 46, Springfield 46
[By JEFF BENJAMIN]
Jeff Benjamin's Railer basketball articles
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