|
 You can always count on the winter weather to make a statement
during the week of the Meijer Classic. Saturday was no exception as
flurries fell in the cold early in Chatham.
Just as the Railers
arrived at Glenwood High School, the first taste of the odd morning
to come reared its head. By being listed as the road team in their
scheduled matchup with Taylorville, Lincoln would be wearing either
their red or green road uniforms. Problem was, the Railers brought
their whites, as did Taylorville. In fact, the Tornadoes were
already warming up as the issue was discovered. In a show of very
good sportsmanship, Taylorville coach Jim Novar agreed to switch his
squad to their road purple uniforms, allowing Lincoln to stay with
the home attire.
 During the first half, it seemed like the Railers were intent on
paying back the favor, and not in a good way.
Taylorville played inspired and controlled basketball for the first
16 minutes, while Lincoln played what coach Neil Alexander called "possibly the worst half of basketball in my 21 years at Lincoln." Things got so bad, that partway through the first quarter, Alexander, unhappy with the effort of his starting quintet, sent a
message to his starters by substituting for each and every starter.
In scoring just three points, their worst offensive quarter of the
season, Lincoln trailed 6-3. The reserves allowed Taylorville to
score five more to go up 11-3. At the 5:16 mark, the starters
checked back in.
Message received.
Even though the Railers trailed at the half, 11-10, a fact that
had Taylorville fans taking pictures of the scoreboard to chronicle
the rare halftime lead, it was during the rest of the second quarter
and most of the third that the Railers outscored Taylorville 25-2 to
take a 28-13 lead.
Spurred by the scoring of Nathaniel Smith and Jordan Nelson, who
combined to score 20 of the points during the run, the Railers took
advantage of Taylorville turnovers, converting 29 Tornado turnovers
into 31 points for the game.
After Taylorville scored the opening basket of the fourth to cut
the lead to 10 at 32-22, Lincoln went on yet another run, 17-5, to
close out a very frustrating early morning matchup. It was certainly
not the way the team wanted to start their Saturday, but in the end,
a win is a win. It was certainly one of those games when the 3s
were not falling (3 of 20), but the 31-2 advantage in points off
turnovers was just too much for Taylorville to overcome.
The victory set the Railers up to play Glenwood later in the
evening with the tournament championship on the line.
 Nelson led the Railers with 20 points and
five steals, while Smith
added 14 as well as team highs in rebounds (8) and assists (2).
Jordan Gesner scored six, Brant Coyne added four, Austin Kirby
hit one of Lincoln's 3s on the day, and Matt Hays added a
basket.
The nightcap had all the makings of a classic Lincoln-Glenwood
duel. The gym was packed with Titan fans on one side and a strong
contingent of Railer Nation on the other. After one quarter, things
were looking like it would go down to the wire. However, a strong
final three quarters led the Railers to a convincing 60-44 win over
Glenwood to go undefeated in the Meijer Classic and set up a showdown with
major conference ramifications on Friday against Southeast.
The first quarter was filled with 3s aplenty. Lincoln and
Glenwood alternated 3-pointers until it was 12-9 Glenwood. The
first non-3-point possession was courtesy of Jordan Nelson's
four-point play. Nelson, the tournament MVP, hit the 3 and free
throw after being fouled to give the Railers their first lead of the
night at 13-12. Glenwood scored the final 3 of the quarter to
lead after one 15-13. It marked the third game in a row when Lincoln
trailed after the first quarter.
The second quarter belonged to Lincoln's other MVP-caliber
performer, Nathaniel Smith. The senior took over in scoring,
rebounding, and defense. Smith's first points of the quarter came on
a basket with contact. Glenwood was whistled for a blocking foul and
Smith's free throw put the Railers up for good at 16-15. After a
Christian Van Hook free throw and Glenwood basket tied the game at
17, Smith scored the next seven points from inside and outside.
In the waning seconds of the half, up 26-19, Smith, who finished
with a team-high 23 points, fired off a shot just inside the 3-point line that swished as the horn sounded, giving the Railers the
halftime advantage at 28-19. There was no disputing the energy of
the team, led by Smith, who jumped with enthusiasm, pounding his
chest and yelling all the way toward the locker room. To say he was
feeling it would be an understatement.
Another key for the Railers was the defense played on Glenwood
freshman Peyton Allen. Allen, an invitee to the University of
Illinois' Midnight Madness, got off to a quick start in the game,
scoring nine of the Titans' 15 first-quarter points. A few
adjustments and better execution held Allen scoreless for the second
and third quarters.
[to top of second column]
 |
The third quarter showed the kind of basketball that Lincoln can
play and we would like to see more of in regard to getting
contributions from everyone. The quarter started with another
conventional three-point play from Smith, a basket from Nelson and
a turnaround jumper on the baseline from Brant Coyne. Up 35-23,
Glenwood was able to cut the lead to under double digits with three
points, but Austin Kirby, whose two early 3s kept the Railers
within striking distance, connected for his third 3 of the
night.
Another Nelson basket on a drive in the lane was followed by a
big offensive rebound and putback by Jordan Gesner to help the
Railers to a 44-30 lead at the end of three.
Nelson was certainly feeling it in the fourth. The senior scored
11 of his 19 points in the quarter, including two 3-pointers,
giving him 82 on the season, and a basket and free throw on another
play. One of Nelson's 3s extended the lead to the biggest of the
night for the Railers at 57-36. Glenwood was able to make a late
push, getting as close as 14, but the Titans were not able to make
the comeback complete.
 The oddity in the fourth quarter saw one of the officials stop
play and direct the Lincoln cheerleaders to stay closer to the wall
on the baseline while play was on that end. It was unusual that the
official did not just take advantage of a dead ball or timeout to
simply pass on the message instead of blowing his whistle to draw
attention to his scolding of the cheerleaders. Ironically, that same
message was not delivered to the Glenwood cheer squad, but then
again, maybe they didn't have as much to cheer about. The Railers
were led by Smith's 26 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four
steals. Nelson added 19. The seniors were Lincoln's only
representatives on the all-tournament team, with both players very
worthy of consideration for tournament MVP. Nelson did break the
scoring record by one, while Smith played a very consistent game
throughout the week. Nelson connected for 20 3s and dished out
17 assists, while Smith scored 90 points, had 36 rebounds, 14
assists and 17 steals. He also helped the Railers improve their
season free-throw mark, going 26 of 31 for the week.
Kirby added nine, Van Hook scored five, and Gesner and
Coyne chipped in with two each. The Railers are now 19-3 and 8-2 in the conference. Next up for the
Railers is Springfield Southeast on Friday. Lincoln already owns one
victory over the Spartans, but they are coming off a title of their
own at the City Tournament in Springfield. This one is at Roy S.
Anderson and the place should be buzzing, so make sure you get there
early. The Spartans will be looking to return the favor of a home
loss to Lincoln, so the Railer Nation needs to be out in force. See
you Friday night! ___ LINCOLN (49)
Nelson 7-14 4-5 20, Smith 5-9 4-7 14, Gesner 2-5 2-2 6, Coyne 2-4
0-0 4, Kirby 1-5 0-0 3, Hays 1-3 0-1 2, Van Hook 0-0 0-0 0, Olson
0-0 0-0 0, Podbelsek 0-4 0-0 0, Cook 0-1 0-0 0, Krusz 0-0 0-2 0.
Team 18-45 10-17 49.
3-point field goals 3-20 (Nelson 2-7, Kirby
1-4, Podbelsek 0-3, Smith 0-2, Gesner 0-2, Coyne 0-2).
Rebounds 27
(Smith 8), assists 7 (Smith 2), steals (Nelson 5), turnovers 11.
Taylorville (27)
Wilhour 5, Brandis 5, Bollinger 4, Peters 4, Jackson 4, Livingston
3, Carls 2. Team 12-34 0-2 27.
3-point field goals 3-13 (Wilhour,
Brandis, Livingston).
Rebounds 30, assists 5s Steals 2, turnovers
29.
Score by quarters: End of first quarter -- Taylorville 6, LCHS 3
Halftime -- Taylorville 11, LCHS 10
End of third quarter -- LCHS 32, Taylorville 20
 ___ LINCOLN (60)
Smith 7-16 6-6 23, Nelson 7-18 2-2 19, Kirby 3-7 0-0 9, Van Hook 2-2
1-2 5, Gesner 1-6 0-0 2, Coyne 1-2 0-0 2, Olson 0-0 0-0 0, Podbelsek
0-0 0-0 0, Cook 0-0 0-0 0, Hays 0-0 0-0 0, Krusz 0-0 0-0 0. Team
21-51 9-10 60.
3-point field goals 9-27 (Smith 3-4, Kirby 3-7,
Nelson 3-11, Coyne 0-1, Gesner 0-4).
Rebounds 26 (Smith 9), assists
9 (Smith 4), steals 12 (Smith 4), turnovers 4.
Glenwood (44)
Thurston 15, Allen 14, Fuchs 6, Esperum 5, Brennan 3, McAdams 1.
Team 15-37 9-16 44.
3-point field goals 5-19 (Allen 3, Esperum,
Brennan).
Rebounds 34, assists 7, steals 1, turnovers 13. Score by quarters:
End of first quarter -- Glenwood 15, LCHS 13
Halftime -- LCHS 28, Glenwood 19
End of third quarter -- LCHS 44, Glenwood 30
Other tournament records set:
-
Most points -- Jordan Nelson, 100;
previous record 99 (Cody
Marshall, Jacksonville 2003)
-
Most 3s -- Jordan Nelson, 20;
previous record 16 (Josh Ruffatto,
Glenwood 2008)
-
Most team 3s -- Lincoln, 42; previous record 41(Lincoln 2008)
[By JEFF BENJAMIN]
Jeff Benjamin's Railer basketball articles
|
