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 Unfortunately, the Railers were handed a dose of their own
medicine on Saturday night. Jacksonville’s James White and Brady
Hays combined to shoot 8 of 13 from three-point range, the Crimson
defense rattled the Railers, and Jacksonville was a perfect 8 of 8
from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and overtime to hand
Lincoln a 52-47 double overtime loss in the nightcap of the Capital
City Showcase at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in
Springfield.
In a game very reminiscent of the other Lincoln loss this season, a
defeat at the hands of Mahomet-Seymour, it just seemed like
something was missing from the beginning of the game. “We did not
play with any energy tonight,” a dejected Coach Neil Alexander said
after the game. “This team cannot do that. We have to play with
energy every night if we want a chance to win.”
Throughout much of the first three quarters, it felt as though every
loose ball ended up with Jacksonville or every rebound came down in
the hands of the Crimsons. It just didn’t feel like Lincoln
basketball on Saturday night. The one bright spot was a 15-2 run
bridging the third and fourth quarters that saw the Railers fight
back into the lead after trailing by double figures. However, it is
possible the energy used in that spurt may have expended much of
what was left in the tank and the Railers fall to 4-2 on the young
season.
“What, we’ve already played six games,” Alexander queried. “And two
of those have been bad games? We can’t have that. That just is
unacceptable.”
In a case of déjà vu, the Crimsons’ last win over Lincoln came in
the first weekend of December of 2012, the 7th, and needed overtime
for the two-point win. After Will Cook put the Railers on the board
with a three, the Crimsons broke out their three point shooting to
jump out to an 8-3 advantage. Lincoln answered back with a Gavin
Block alley oop from Jordan Perry, a free throw from Payton Ebleherr
and two more from Aron Hopp. Each time Lincoln would climb back to
even, one of Jacksonville’s shooters would answer back. A three from
Hays gave the lead back to the Crimsons (3-2), but Cook’s second of
five threes on the night tied the game at 11.
A drive and basket from Zac Lonergan put Jacksonville up 13-11, but
the game was knotted by two free throws from Block. Down 15-14 with
17 seconds left in the first half, Coach Alexander called a time out
to get Block back on the floor. The senior picked up his second foul
with 2:24 left in the half and, after biding some time, Block had
gone to the bench to avoid picking up his third in the half. As time
ticked down, the Railers attempt to score before the half looked
more like a football game as Ebleherr and Block both drew heavy
contact in the lane before the ball ended up in the hands of Hopp.
The junior’s basket with three seconds left gave Lincoln its first
lead, 16-15, since the first basket on the night.
So, if you wanted to look at the “glass half full” scenario, you
have the lead at the half and your most experienced player and
leading scorer has only one field goal in the first 16 minutes.
Block’s points came on just five shots from the field along with
going three of five from the line.
The game turned in the third quarter when Hays and White combined
for four threes while Lincoln could not buy a basket. The Crimsons
stormed to a 16-3 run to stretch out to a 31-19 lead over the
Railers. Bad shots? Unlucky shots? Turnovers? Yes, the third quarter
had all of the above for Lincoln and the frustrating thing about the
turnovers was the cause.
“We had 15 turnovers,” Alexander said, “and they really didn’t
pressure us. They were unforced errors. We are not good enough to
play like that. If we play like this, any of the teams in this
conference will beat us.”
Give the Railers credit. They could have given up but I’m not sure
they know how. Starting with two free throws by Block, earned after
battling for an offensive rebound, Lincoln showed they were worthy
to be the pick of the CS8 coaches in a preseason poll. Lincoln got
closer after Block found a leaking out Hopp whose layup cut the
deficit to 31-23. A layup by White pushed the lead back to ten, but
the game’s momentum was about to take a mighty swing. After a
Jacksonville turnover, Block’s steal put him in position to knock
down a three pointer with three seconds to go in the quarter. As the
teams headed to their respective benches, the Railers had lessened
the gap and were down only seven at 33-26.
[to top of second column]
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A floater in the lane and another three from the All-Stater Block
got the game to a single possession and when Cook hit a three with
5:05 to go in regulation, the Railers had fought all the way back to
take a 34-33 lead. The lead was short-lived however as a pair of
free throws and another basket from Hays put Jacksonville up 37-34.
Ebelherr found Block on the back door to cut the margin to one and
after a Crimson score, Cook tied the game at 39 with a three-pointer
with 2:42 to go. Hard to believe that would be the final scoring of
regulation as both teams went could, although Lincoln ran a great
deal of time off the clock, but could not get the good shot to take
the lead.
Lincoln quickly went up in the first overtime on a drive by Hopp.
Jacksonvile then tied and took the lead only to see freshman Isaiah
Bowers contribute his biggest basket in his short career. After miss
after miss on the offensive glass, the ball fell into Bowers’ hands
who knew exactly what to do with it. His lay-in tied the game at 43.
Things were looking good with about a minute to go when Ebelherr
scored on an inbounds pass at the basket, but Riley Dugan evened the
score again with an easy basket. Again, both teams had their
chances, but one overtime would not be enough with the score tied at
45.
It took some time for anyone to score in the second overtime, but
Block’s free throws with 2:32 left put Lincoln up 47-45. As he had
done all night, it was White connecting for his final three to put
the Crimsons up for good at 48-47. Lincoln’s last best chance may
have come with 43 seconds to go when Block was fouled, but missed
the front end of the one and bonus. Fouled on the rebound,
Jacksonville’s Jonny Peak would go to the line and hit two free
throws. Again, the Railers just could not get the big shots to fall
most of the night and the second overtime was no exception as their
only points came from the free throw line. Two more free throws with
24 seconds to go rounded out the scoring and Jacksonville headed
back to Morgan County with a surprising five point win over the
Railers.
Lincoln was led by a game high 19 points from Block, with Cook
matching his career high again with 15 points. Hopp added eight,
with Ebelherr scoring three and Bowers contributing a basket.
The Railers will now prepare for the home conference opener as the
Rochester Rockets will make a call to Roy S. Anderson on Friday
night, the only contest this week for Lincoln. Rochester comes in
off a 45-44 win over SHG earlier in the day on Saturday in
Springfield. The rest of the conference opener scores were:
Springfield 44-40 over Glenwood, Eisenhower falling in their first
ever CS8 game by one to Lanphier 52-51, and MacArthur getting the
win over Southeast 55-50. If the first night is any indication, this
could be one of the most competitive and unpredictable CS8 seasons
ever. Five games decided by a total of 16 points with the largest
margin being five.
The coaches’ poll picked Lincoln to win the CS8 and just because
they dropped the first game does not mean bad things are on the
horizon. But I would buckle that seat belt because it is going to be
an interesting ride.
LINCOLN (47)
Block 5 7-10 19, Cook 5 0-0 15, Hopp 3 2-3 8, Ebelherr 1 1-2 3,
Bowers 1 0-0 2, Perry 0 0-0 0, Aeilts 0 0-0 0. TEAM 15 10-15 47. 3-
point FG 7 (Cook 5, Block 2).
JACKSONVILLE (52)
Hays 17, White 14, Peak 7, McCombs 6, Dugan 4, Lonergan 2, Brannan
2. TEAM 16 12-14 52. 3-point FG 8 (White 4, Hays 4).
LCHS 6-10-10-13-6-2 47
JACKSONVILLE 8-7-18-6-6-7 52
[Jeff Benjamin]
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