|
 On Tuesday night, the newly-anointed number one team in the state
of Illinois in Class 3A basketball struggled to find the winning
combination against a scrappy Decatur Eisenhower squad. Using a 10-0
run to start the game and a 17-4 run at the end proved to be enough
as the Railers advanced to Friday’s title game with a 53-33 win over
their new Central State Eight conference foe come next year.
“Every year, they say in the state tournament, you get a lucky
card,” Lincoln coach Neil Alexander said after the hard fought
battle. “Tonight, we played ours. We’re trying to get them to
understand it’s now one and done. There is no time to mess around.”
At the game’s outset, Lincoln did not mess around, using the normal
pressure defense to force the Panthers into one bad play after
another. A three from Gavin Block started the scoring while a steal
and layup from Joey Olden put Lincoln up 5-0. Max Cook, who led the
way with a season high 17 points, six rebounds, four steals, and
three assists, sank a pair of free throws after a drive to the
basket and then hit a three after the possession was kept alive on
outstanding offensive board work from Olden. Lincoln (29-2) was up
10-0 and you had the feeling we were about to watch another rampage
like Friday night against Lanphier.
 Eisenhower finally got on the board on baskets from Brandon Tucker
and Quan Bradford, but the home team answered back. Tyler Horchem’s
steal and strong move to the basket for the layin preceded another
basket from Cook, who seemed determined to pick up his game by
constantly driving to the hole. His seventh point of the quarter put
Lincoln back up by 10 at 14-4. Tucker continued to keep Eisenhower
close with outside jumpers, including one from three point range.
His last score of the quarter pulled the visitors to within five at
14-9.
Despite some ball handling issues and other turnovers, the Railers
were able to maintain their advantage, although Eisenhower did not
help their cause as they found it difficult to take care of the
basketball as well. Block scored late in the quarter to give Lincoln
a 16-9 lead. It was the final points we would see from Block in the
half. “I don’t think Gavin had one of his better nights,” Alexander
said. “Their big guy played him real tough, was real physical.” That
and foul trouble kept Block from reaching double figures on the
night, something he had done 16 of his last 17 contests.
The second quarter found the Panthers hanging in the contest. For
much of the season, the Railers would take a 10 point lead and in
the blink of an eye, turn it in to twenty to thirty. Eisenhower was
not going to let that happen on Tuesday. A basket from Colton
Lockwood cut the lead to five, only to have Will Cook hit his only
shot of the night, a three, to push the game to 19-11. However,
Lincoln could not put the Panthers away. Stephen Bobbitt and
Lockwood made seven of eight free throws during the quarter, while
the Railers struggled to hit one layup and close in shot after
another. A basket from Adam Conrady, who came up with five
rebounds, put Lincoln up 21-13, while Payton Ebelherr got on the
board as he drove a wide open baseline to extend the Railer lead to
24-15. Again, Eisenhower found a way to pester the Railers, cutting
the game to 24-17. The Railers rounded out the first half scoring as
Max Cook completed a three point play and Conrady scored in close to
move the lead back to double figures at 29-17. Eisenhower scored the
final four points of the half and almost got more. In the waning
seconds, Lincoln was unable to corral a loose ball in the corner and
also allowed the Panthers to drive the baseline. A basket underneath
that would have continued their momentum was waved off with half a
second to go thanks to a travelling call. The teams hit the locker
room with Lincoln up 29-21.
The roar from Friday night at Roy S. Anderson had been replaced by a
quiet hush.
 Things continued to tighten up as Braxton Woodland scored on the
first possession of the half after Eisenhower got the ball in the
middle of the Railer defense and found him open on the baseline. It
was a scene that was too familiar during the evening. “We didn’t
cover the middle,” Alexander said. “If it gets in there, we have
problems. If they (Eisenhower) did that to us, what do you think
U-High sitting up there watching will do with 6’5”, 6’5”, and 6’7”
in there?”
Up only six, just 33 seconds into the quarter, Block picked up
his third foul on a very questionable charging call that looked as
though the Panther slid under Block well after he left his feet.
Fortunately for the Railers, Eisenhower did not take advantage,
while Horchem tried to take matters into his own hands by driving to
the basket and getting fouled. The senior split the free throws
putting Lincoln up 30-23. Woodland continued his inside dominance
with another basket which was answered by Block on the other end. Up
32-25, it looked as though Block was poised to take over as he had
been doing for much of the late season run. That notion ceased at
the 4:25 mark when he was whistled for his fourth foul on a rebound.
It was another case of Lincoln not getting to the loose balls like
we are used to seeing. “We were two steps slow tonight and they made
us pay,” Alexander said.
[to top of second column] |
Block’s absence is not something that is felt only on the
offensive end. “With him out, we have to move Ed (Bowlby) from
his normal spot to the four, and put someone else in Ed’s spot,”
Alexander explained. “It can complicate things.”
Eisenhower scored again to cut the game to five at 32-27. Give
credit to Max Cook as his take it to the basket plan continued
to work as he hit a field goal attempt and a pair of free throws
to push the lead back to nine. After an Eisenhower score,
Ebelherr stepped in and hit the biggest shot of the night, a
three pointer from the left corner as time was expiring at the
end of the third. The five point lead had quickly been doubled
and the Railers were about to finally put some distance between
themselves and the fifth-seeded Panthers.
In a very short span to start the fourth, the Railers broke out
some familiar looks to continue the game-ending run. Bowlby
scored after a lob pass from Max Cook, while Cook scored on a
layup after a spin move in the lane. Olden scored after the
Railers forced another of the 20 turnovers Eisenhower would
suffer, while Bowlby got the Railer Nation to their feet with a
reverse layup. Suddenly, the game that was feeling a bit too
tight for comfort was a 47-29 lead for Lincoln. After Eisenhower
got another basket from Lockwood, Ebelherr scored again. The
Railers finally hit the twenty point margin after Olden scored
after a backcut and getting a nice pass from Block while the
team’s leading scorer finished the night off with his fourth
basket.
After Friday night’s win, it was certainly not the team we
expected to see, but it may seem a bit much to talk about all
the things that need work after a twenty point win. This time of
year all of those mistakes are magnified because you never know
what may that little thing that has you putting the basketballs
up for the year. It was certainly unusual to see the Railers
record more turnovers (14) than assists (11). However, the road
could get very bumpy on Friday night. Tonight, there is another
regional semifinal at Roy S. Anderson as the number two seed
Normal U-High will be taking on third-seeded Decatur MacArthur.
U-High has spent much of the year ranked in the top ten and they
would be looking for revenge as the Railers won last year’s
Bloomington Regional in overtime over the Pioneers. If it’s
MacArthur, they will have all the momentum from just knocking
off U-High. Either way, Friday night will need a strong turnout
from Railer Nation. It will not be easy.
Of course, this time of season, they aren’t supposed to be. It’s
what makes winning those games feel that much better.
Max Cook had his strongest game in a while with 17 points, while
Block scored nine. Ebelherr also had a strong game and finished
with seven. Olden scored six, with Bowlby and Conrady adding
four. Will Cook and Horchem rounded out the scoring with three.
Lincoln’s game Friday night will tip at 7:00 with the
three-point contest getting started around 5:30.
LINCOLN (53)
M.Cook 5-8 6-9 17, Block 4-9 0-0 9, Ebelherr 3-4 0-0 7, Olden
3-5 0-0 6, Bowlby 2-6 0-0 4, Conrady 2-2 0-0 4, Horchem 1-4 1-2
3, W.Cook 1-4 0-0 3, Krusz 0-0 0-0 0. TEAM 21-42 7-11 53.
3-point field goals 4-17 (M.Cook 1-2, W. Cook 1-3, Ebelherr 1-1,
Block 1-4, Olden 0-1, Horchem 0-3, Bowlby 0-3).
EISENHOWER (33)
Tucker 9, Lockwood 8, Woodland 6, Bradford 5, Bobbitt 3, Fournoy
2. TEAM 12-35 7-14 33. 3-point field goals 2-15 (Tucker,
Bradford).
LCHS 16-13-10-14 53
EISENHOWER 9-12-8-4 33
[By JEFF BENJAMIN]
Click here to respond to this
article.
Jeff Benjamin's Railer basketball articles
 |
