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 Smith's 26 points, including all nine first-quarter points for
Lincoln, helped the Railers improve to 14-3 on the season with five
games in six days on tap for this week's Meijer Winter Classic in
Chatham, starting with Monday's contest against Jacksonville.
Looking to bounce back from another Friday night stunner, the
Railers were not able to get off to the good start they were looking
for, trailing the Kays 11-9 at the end of the first quarter. Credit
goes to the Lincoln offense, which took advantage of the gaps and
breakdowns in the Kankakee defense, allowing Smith to dominate
inside on nice looks from his teammates.
Smith's free throw to end the first started a 9-0 run for the
Railers, pushing their lead to 17-11. Jordan Nelson, held scoreless
in the first eight minutes, scored four of his six first-half points
during the run. Jordan Gesner's only basket of the night, a
3-pointer, ended the Lincoln scoring in the first half, with the Kays adding the final basket, putting the Railers up 22-17 at the
half.
After struggling with the 3-point shot in the first half (1 of
9), the Railers found the range in the third quarter, with Lincoln
hitting 3, one from Smith and two in a row from Nelson. Down
34-23, Kankakee's Shomari Adams connected for 3 to cut the game
to 34-26, but too much Smith pushed Lincoln out to their largest
lead of the night. Smith continued his hot shooting on the night, 10
of 13 from the field, scoring four more to end the quarter as the
Railers went up 39-26. Another Adams 3 pulled the Kays to within
10 at 39-29.
Smith passed his previous career high (22 versus Normal West on
Feb. 6, 2010) with two free throws to put Lincoln
back up by 12 at 41-29. Things were looking good for the Railers
to enjoy a comfortable fourth quarter on the way to victory. Unfortunately, Kankakee played with the urgency of a team down
double figures and seemed to be the only team up emotionally for the
rest of the contest. The Kays were able to find Alvin Braddock down
low, who turned one baseline spin move after another into thunderous
dunks that pulled Kankakee to within one at 43-42, all on a 13-2 run
late in the quarter. Smith came to the rescue again, scoring to the
push the game to 45-42.
Then, it got a little interesting. Kankakee found themselves trapped on
the sideline just inside half-court by Nelson and Smith. Although it
appeared a five-second count was coming to turn the ball back to
Lincoln, a reach-in foul was whistled against Nelson.
The senior did not seem to agree with the official's call and,
after a brief discussion with the official, was whistled for a
technical foul. With 1:25 remaining, Kankakee was stepping to the
line for the two technical free throws as well as maintaining
possession.
Adams stepped to the line and hit both to make it a one-point
game again. The biggest defensive play of the night came from junior
Austin Kirby. With the Kays driving the perimeter around the top of
the key, Kirby reached in to cause the Kankakee ballhandler to
fumble the ball, forcing a traveling call.
After the turnover, Smith hit one of two free throws. With
Lincoln up 46-44, Kankakee again could not take advantage of
Lincoln's free-throw struggles.
After an empty possession, Kirby added to his late-game presence
by hitting two free throws with less than 25 seconds remaining,
giving the Railers the winning advantage of 48-44.
Coach Neil Alexander, who picked up his 630th career victory, was
pleased with Smith's efforts but still concerned about the state of
his team. "I thought Nathaniel played very well. It seemed he was
the only one that came to play tonight," Alexander said. "I still
think the best basketball is when five guys play as one, trying to
win as a team. … Right now, this team is struggling."
[to top of second column] |
Lincoln was able to get two wins on the night as the sophomores
won their game 56-31.
As previously mentioned, the Railers were led by a career-high
26 points from Smith. Smith, along with Brant Coyne, led with
four rebounds. Nelson, Lincoln's leading scorer coming into the
game, added 14 but also provided key plays in other areas,
topping the squad with five assists and five steals. Gesner
scored three, with Kirby and Christian Van Hook adding two each.
Coyne hit one of two free throws for his only scoring of the
night.
Now, all the preseason and in-season conditioning will be put
to the test. The Railers will play five games in the next six
days. The first one is tonight in Chatham on the first night of
the Meijer Winter Classic against Jacksonville. Game time is
scheduled for 6:30 p.m. After that, there are matchups on
Wednesday (Rochester), Friday (Highland), Saturday morning
(Taylorville) and Saturday night (Glenwood). With four
conference games, it is a chance for the Railers to provide some
separation, while the Springfield schools, two of which have wins
over Lincoln, battle it out in the City Tournament starting
Thursday night.
___
Lincoln (48)
Smith 10-13 5-7 26, Nelson 6-13 0-0 14, Gesner 1-3 0-0 3, Kirby
0-1 2-3 2, Van Hook 1-5 0-0 2, Coyne 0-1 1-2 1, Olson 0-2 0-0 0.
Team 18-38 8-14 48.
3-point field goals 4-16 (Nelson 2-9, Smith
1-1, Gesner 1-3, Kirby 0-1, Olson 0-2).
Rebounds 16 (Smith,
Coyne 4), assists 12 (Nelson 5), steals 11 (Nelson 5), turnovers
15.
Kankakee (44)
Adams 11, Braddock 11, Brooks 6, Shaw 6, Pope 5, Lee 4, D. Jones
1. Team 16-37 7-10 44.
3-point field goals 5-13 (Adams 3, Brooks
2).
Rebounds 29, assists 9, steals 8, turnovers 24.
Score by quarters: End of first quarter -- Kankakee 11, LCHS 9
Halftime -- LCHS 22, Kankakee 17
End of third quarter -- LCHS 39, Kankakee 29
Other notes:
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Catching up with former Railer Ben Brackney, his Bucknell team
is 12-7, 3-0 in the Patriot League. Brackney has played in eight
games, going 4 of 9 from the field, perfect in two attempts from
the free-throw line and scoring 10 points on the season, an
average of 1.3 points per game.
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Lincoln's Jordan Nelson is on the initial list of nominees for
the 2011 McDonald's All-American game.
[By JEFF BENJAMIN]
Jeff Benjamin's Railer basketball articles
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