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 The
senior connected on a 3-pointer from the corner as time expired in overtime to give
the Lincoln Railers a thrilling 66-63 win over the Lions from Lanphier on Senior Night at Lober-Nika Gymnasium. Coyne was mobbed
by his teammates, who rushed the court after his dramatic shot ended
the Railers' regular season on a high note.
Coyne's game-winner would not have
been possible if not for the other outstanding play he made in the
final 10 seconds. After Jordan Nelson's attempted layup fell short
with the game tied at 63, Coyne hustled to the baseline to save the
ball inbounds. A couple of passes later, Coyne launched a shot from
the corner, a spot on the floor he is very familiar with, and hit
the shot "dead center" as Lincoln coach Neil Alexander called it.
The win improved the Lincoln record to
25-5, the third straight year of 25 wins or more. This marks only
the second time in Lincoln history that has been accomplished, with
the first time being the 1996-1997 through 1998-1999 squads.
The Railers were forced to play the
overtime, as well as the latter stages of regulation, without senior
Nathaniel Smith, who fouled out after registering his second straight
double-double, with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
It was not your typical Lincoln game,
as they played sloppy and hurried at points in the game, all thanks
to pressure defense from the Lions. Lanphier forced the Railers into
21 turnovers while Lincoln caused 19 miscues by the Lions.
It was a
game of runs by both teams, a game that came down to the last shot.
Lincoln got off to a quick 5-0 thanks
to baskets from Jordan Gesner and Nelson. After four from Lanphier,
Nelson, who finished with a game-high 27 points, hit the first of
his four 3s on the night. The senior was looking to become the
school's leading single-season 3-point shooter, needing six to tie the
mark set by John Harmsen with 113 in 2004-05. The Lions were able to
string together another four to tie the game at eight heading into
the second quarter.
With University of Illinois coach
Bruce Weber at the game -- there to keep an eye on Lanphier freshman
Larry Austin Jr. -- Lincoln's 6-0 run to start the second was kick-started by a thunderous alley-oop dunk from Christian Van Hook on a
perfect pass from Nelson.
The Railers certainly had their
opportunities, thanks to the many early turnovers from Lanphier. Each
one seemed to be the Lions trying to make just one more pass in the
lane, passing up good shots in the meantime.
Kendall Murdock, the leading scorer
from the earlier game in Lincoln with 22, was held to just a lone
basket on the night.
After pushing out to a 19-11 advantage, Lanphier outscored and outhustled the Railers in a 13-3 run to end
the half with a 24-22 lead. Lincoln's only basket in the span was
Coyne's 3 near the top of the key.
Just like in the first quarter, the
Railers scored the first five points of the second half on a lay-in
from Smith and 3 from Nelson. Lanphier (16-10, 11-5) grabbed
their final lead of regulation at 30-29, which was quickly erased on
another long-distance connection by Nelson.
With the contest knotted up at 34,
Lincoln went on their final run of the night, an 8-0 spurt, giving
them a 42-34 lead. When Nelson hit a field goal late in the quarter,
the Railers had moved out to a 46-39 lead going to the fourth
quarter.
Both teams played even, and when Nelson
hit his final 3 of the night with about 4:30 remaining, things
were looking pretty good for Lincoln, up 51-43.
But, this was Senior
Night and, as one of my broadcast partners, Josh Komnick, said before
the game, "strange things always happen on Senior Night." How right
he was.
Lanphier took advantage of a Railer
defense that was not getting back quickly enough and either converted
baskets or got to the free-throw line to pull within 51-49. However, when Lanphier looks at this one, an area where they let it
get away is at the free-throw line. While the Railers continued their hot
shooting -- 15 of 16 on the night and 79 percent over their last 13
games -- Lanphier hit only 10 of 20, some the front end of one-and-ones that cost them even more chances from the line.
Lanphier's Jaylen Briggity's first
3 of the night, in the middle of Coyne hitting a pair of free
throws twice, cut the Lincoln lead to 55-52. Briggity's basket and
Austin's one of two from the line tied the game at 55.
The Railers thought they had the game
won in regulation when Nelson stepped up and hit a double-clutch
jumper from the left side with about 12 seconds to go.
However, Lanphier pushed the ball upcourt, and Austin Kirby, back after missing the Moline game with a
foot injury, was whistled for a foul with less than three seconds to
go. Briggity calmly sank both free throws to tie the game. Lincoln's final shot was off the mark even though Nelson got a good
look from just inside half-court.
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The Railers started the scoring in the
overtime on a pass from Nelson to Van Hook, who made a nice catch and
lay-in. Briggity continued his fine play late in the contest by
hitting a 3 to give the lead to Lanphier.
Nelson gave the lead back to
Lincoln with a pair of free throws, while Austin missed a chance to
put the Lions back on top by hitting only one of two free throws. Another field goal from Van Hook
had Lincoln in the lead at 63-61.
With all the free throws missed
by Lanphier, the most important may have been by Everett Clemons
late in overtime. Clemons, who looked like an all-stater
underneath against the Railer defense, scored 22 on the night. The
junior drove the left side of the lane, got the bucket to go and was
fouled. Clemons missed the free throw, which would have given them
the lead. Instead, the game stayed tied at 63, waiting for the
heroics of Coyne.
The Railers were led by Nelson's 27
points. In fact, in the last four games against Lanphier, it's the
third time he has scored 27 points. The other was his record-setting
night of 48 earlier this month. Nelson also had six assists on the
evening. Smith finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while the
night's hero, Coyne, was one rebound away from his own
double-double, going for 14 points and nine rebounds.
Van Hook played important minutes,
especially late in overtime with Smith on the bench, and finished
with eight points. Gesner was the only other Railer to score,
hitting for Lincoln's first 3 of the night.
Two other key
contributors who did not score were Kirby and Jake Olson.
Kirby
provides that fire and want-to that every team needs. Late in the
game, with the ball loose on the floor, it was Kirby diving in to
force the held ball. Chances are Kirby will be the one coming out
with the loose ball, and if not, he will make sure the person who
does had to put forth quite the effort.
As for Olson, the junior played 19
tough minutes. He made one save of an errant pass that kept a
possession for the Railers where they eventually scored late in the
game.
Was it a game the Railers needed to
win? No, but it sure was nice. Not only to win a close one, but to
know they did this without Smith in overtime has to give this team
confidence going into state tournament play, all of which begins
Monday night at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium.
For the Railers, it gets started on
Tuesday night as they will face the winner of Monday's contest
between Morton and Springfield. Tip time for all the regional games
is set for 7:30.
___
LINCOLN (66)
Nelson 8-18 7-8 27, Smith 5-14 4-4
14, Coyne 4-6 4-4 14, Van Hook 4-5 0-0 8, Gesner 1-2 0-0 3, Kirby
0-0 0-0 0, Olson 0-1 0-0 0, Cook 0-0 0-0 0. Team 22-46 15-16 66.
3-point field goals 7-17 (Nelson 4-12, Coyne 2-3, Gesner 1-1, Olson
0-1).
Rebounds 29 (Smith 10), assists 10 (Nelson 6), steals 10
(Nelson 4), turnovers 21.
Lanphier (63)
Clemons 22, Briggity 11, Austin 10,
Davis 9, Powers 6, Boozer 3, Murdock 2. Team 25-48 10-20 63.
3-point field goals 3-9 (Briggity 2, Davis).
Rebounds 29, assists
10, steals 10, turnovers 19.
Score by quarters:
End of first quarter --
LCHS 8, Lanphier 8
Halftime -- Lanphier 24, LCHS 22
End of third quarter --
LCHS 46, Lanphier 39
End of regulation -- LCHS 57, Lanphier 57
[By JEFF BENJAMIN]
Jeff Benjamin's Railer basketball articles
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