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 The second game featured the hot 3-point shooting of senior
guard Jordan Nelson. Nelson became the school's all-time leading 3-point shooter with his last 3 in the third quarter, passing current assistant coach Gregg
Alexander, and he also tied
the record with most 3s in a game with nine, which he already
held with Jason Osborn and Brock Werner. On the night, Nelson fired
in 29 points on 9-of-18 shooting from beyond the arc as the Railers
held off Plainfield South 57-56.
After taking an early 5-2 lead, the Cougars (9-4) ran off 11 in
a row to take a 13-5 lead. Nelson connected on the first of five
straight 3s he would make, cutting the lead to five, but another
quick five by Plainfield South would put the Railers down double
digits early at 18-8. Nelson continued his barrage, seemingly
backing up farther from the basket with each shot, and the fourth of
the five straight tied the game at 20. Lincoln scored another nine
in a row including a 3 and a couple of free throws from
Nathaniel Smith and 3 from Brant Coyne. The Railers ended the
half with the last of Nelson's quintet and a shot at the buzzer --
yes, another 3, this one from Jordan Gesner -- as Lincoln took a
35-23 lead into the half.
In the first 16 minutes, the Railers blistered the nets from 3-point range, hitting 10 of 19 (52 percent).
The Railers were able to extend their lead by the end of the third
quarter to 46-31. All three field goals, including two more 3s,
came from Nelson. With things going the way they were, an unnamed
radio announcer, who shall remain nameless, but did write this
story, mentioned the unlikelihood that overtime was a concern. I
guess I -- I mean, the unnamed person -- should learn to be quiet.
A return to sloppy play, stagnant offense and a furious comeback by
the Cougars saw Plainfield South cut the lead to one at 52-51.
Coyne connected on two key free throws to push the lead to three.
Plainfield South's Edvinas Presniakovas, who scored 13 of his team-high 21 in the fourth, was fouled on a
3-point attempt by Nelson
and calmly sank all three free throws to tie the game at 54.
Just like the night before when Nelson hit a jumper near the end of
the first overtime to send the game to the extra session, the senior
stepped up again and drilled his ninth 3 of the night, this one
with 3.5 seconds left, to put Lincoln up 57-54. After a timeout,
Lincoln coach Neil Alexander chose to have his team foul the
recipient of the inbounds pass, and with 2.2 seconds left, William
Nixon hit both shots to make it a one-point game. On the inbounds
play, the Cougars were confused on what to do and the clock ticked
down to 0.3 seconds before Jordan Gesner was fouled. The junior
missed the free throw, but the Cougars' desperation heave at the
buzzer was nowhere close and the Railers survived 57-56.
Nelson scored a game-high 29 points, while Smith added 11 points,
five
rebounds and four assists. Coyne had another strong game, his second
of the day, scoring seven, along with five rebounds and five assists. Gesner scored
four, with Austin Kirby and Christian Van Hook adding three.
The first game of the day, a matchup with host school Collinsville,
was much different for Nelson. The Railers were able to jump out early
for a commanding 15-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Those eight minutes showed how good this team can be as they were
playing strong defense, getting rebounds, running the offense and
taking good shots. It also was a look into the future as Nelson
faced a box-and-one defense from the Kahoks. With the rest of his
teammates facing zone, Nelson was being guarded one-on-one wherever
he went on the floor. Smith scored Lincoln's first points of the
contest as he slipped a screen, caught a nice entry pass and scored
on a layup, something the Railers have struggled with recently.
With Nelson being hounded, the rest of the Railers contributed to a
good, balanced scoring attack early, with four players in the
scorebook, led at the end of the quarter by Kirby's six points on
two 3-pointers. But, whatever was working in the first quarter
took a lunch break in the second. Collinsville (7-6) ran off 11 in a row to tie the game at 15,
holding Lincoln scoreless until just about one minute to go in the
quarter. A tip-away and steal by Kirby led to a layup for the junior,
while another empty possession for the home squad ended with Coyne
hitting a 3 on the other end, and Lincoln's quick five had put
them up 20-15. Collinsville scored just before the half to cut the
lead to three, at 20-17.
With Nelson not getting as many good looks as usual, the team
continued to struggle from beyond the arc, going only 4 of 15 (27
percent) in the first half. Smith scored the first four points for
the Railers in the second half, but those tallies were sandwiched
around a six-point run and another score that put Collinsville ahead
25-24. As Railer Nation has grown accustomed to, when the Railers look
for answers, it is usually behind the 3-point line. Once again,
with Nelson not getting the touches, Kirby and Gesner stepped up
with 3s and Van Hook added a basket to see the Railers end the
quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 32-25 lead into the fourth.
[to top of second column]
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Credit Brant Coyne and Nathaniel Smith for leading the team in this
game. The seniors scored all but two points in the quarter. Coyne
had the first of two good games on the day, scoring six of his
team-high 14 points early in the period. Another key basket from
Smith pushed the lead to 10 at 40-30. The Kahoks had one good run
left in them, and that seven-in-a-row cut the game back to a
one-possession contest.
The biggest basket of the night came at the
2:15 mark, when Smith went up underneath, missed a layup, fought for
the rebound, went back up, scored the goal and got fouled. After
converting the free throw, Lincoln was up 43-37 and all the wind
seemed to be taken out of Collinsville's sails. Coyne hit two free
throws, and with under a minute to go, Nelson collected his only two points
of the game at the free-throw line.
Coyne led the way with 14, while Smith and Kirby each tallied
11. Smith also had six rebounds. Van Hook chipped in with six points
and five boards, while Gesner hit one 3-pointer and dished out
five assists. Nelson finished with only two.
All in all, still not sure who this Railer team is. If they are
hitting on all cylinders, playing defense, hitting 3s,
running the offense as it is designed, most teams would be hard-pressed to stay with this squad. However, these four games saw
bouts of offensive impatience, lack of hustle after loose balls,
silly turnovers and overall sloppy play.
Hopefully, the two
wins on Thursday will get the team headed in the right
direction. It is something that needs to happen quickly, with a
CS8 doubleheader on tap for the first weekend of 2011. Lincoln
will be home on the first Friday against Springfield and travel
on Saturday night to take on Springfield Southeast. The Spartans
finished second at the Collinsville tournament, losing to
Belleville East 71-64 in the final.
Before I wrap this up, congratulations go out to the young
ladies on the Lincoln cheerleading squad. The Lincoln cheerleaders were
selected as the winners of this year's cheerleading award at the
Collinsville tournament. Good job, girls!
After a well-deserved break, the players and coaches will get
back at it next year and see if 2011 can be the year of the
Railer. From everyone at LDN, as well as the Railer broadcasts,
hope you and yours have a safe, healthy and happy new year! See
you in 2011.
___
Lincoln (47)
Coyne 5-9 2-2 14, Smith 5-10 1-1 11, Kirby 4-9 0-0 11, Van Hook
3-4 0-0 6, Gesner 1-4 0-0 3, Nelson 0-6 2-3 2, Olson 0-0 0-0 0.
Team 18-42 5-6 47.
3-point field goals 6-20 (Kirby 3-8, Coyne
2-3, Gesner 1-4, Smith 0-1, Nelson 0-4).
Rebounds 25 (Smith 6),
assists 15 (Gesner 5), steals 7 (Gesner 3), turnovers 10.
Collinsville (39)
Foster 16, Daniels 10, Smith 6, Kusnerick 3, Johnson 2, Lewis 2.
Team 15-37 7-13 39.
3-point field goals 2-9 (Foster, Kusnerick).
Rebounds 26, assists 7, steals 7, turnovers 12.
End of first quarter -- LCHS 15, Collinsville 4
Halftime -- LCHS 20, Collinsville 17
End of third quarter -- LCHS 32, Collinsville 25
___
Lincoln (57)
Nelson 10-19 0-0 29, Smith 3-7 4-4 11, Coyne 2-5 2-2 7, Gesner
1-5 1-3 4, Kirby 1-2 0-0 3, Van Hook 1-3 1-2 3, Olson 0-0 0-0 0.
Team 18-41 8-11 57.
3-point field goals 13-30 (Nelson 9-18,
Kirby 1-1, Smith 1-3, Coyne 1-3, Gesner 1-5).
Rebounds 20
(Smith, Coyne 5), assists 15 (Coyne 5), steals 7 (3 tied with
2), turnovers 13.
Plainfield South (56)
Presniakovas 21, Snowden 19, Nixon 10, Wright 2, Collins 2,
Coker 2. Team 20-40 12-19 56.
3-point field goals 4-12 (Presniakovas
3, Snowden).
Rebounds 26, assists 8, steals 6, turnovers 15.
End of first quarter -- Plainfield South 16, LCHS 8
Halftime -- LCHS 35, Plainfield South 23
End of third quarter -- LCHS 46, Plainfield South 31
[By JEFF BENJAMIN]
Related links
Collinsville High School Schnucks Holiday Classic
Jeff Benjamin's Railer basketball articles
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