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 This was not your typical Lincoln win, but everyone knows that
when the marquee says Lincoln vs. Lanphier anything is possible.
However, the win may be one of those filed under improbable.
The Railers were able to survive a second quarter explosion by the
Lions (14-9, 10-5) that, when all was said and done, saw Lanphier
hit Lincoln with a 26-6 run, turning a 13-6 Railer lead into a 13
point halftime deficit of 32-19. The lead for Lanphier grew to as
much as 15 in the third quarter but even if everyone in the gym
thought this one was not going Lincoln’s way, the Railers would not
have any of it.
“I’m really proud of how they kept fighting,” Coach Neil Alexander
said after the contest. “They (Lanphier) played their butts off, but
it was a really good comeback by our kids. It was a big win.”
The Railers finished only 14 of 21 from the line, but when it
counted during the fourth quarter and overtime, the trio of Gavin
Block, Aron Hopp, and Payton Ebelherr combined to go 10 of 13 to
secure the victory.
Trying to avenge a five point loss at Lanphier in January, the
Railers came out and jumped to an early lead behind Cook whose three
pointer and reverse layup gave Lincoln an early 5-0 lead. After a
basket and free throw from Lanphier’s Yakeema Rose, a free throw
from Ebelherr put the margin back to three at 6-3. Xavier Bishop,
who is in range as soon as he crosses half court, tied the game with
the first of his four threes on the night. Block tallied his first
points of the night on a driving layup and putback after an
offensive rebound, one of 14 board for the Railer senior. After
Isaiah Bowers made the extra pass to free Cook for another three
pointer, the Lincoln lead had grown to 13-6.
And then, all you know what broke loose.
A three from Lanphier’s Aundrae Williams seemed innocent enough near
the end of the first quarter, cutting the Railer lead to 13-9. After
a basket from Cardell McGee to open the second, Ebelherr hit a
jumper from 14 feet to knock the lead back to four at 15-11. Lincoln
would not score again until 1:44 left in the quarter. Meanwhile, the
Lions would do a whole bunch of scoring.
It is rare indeed to watch the Railers forced to taste their own
medicine, watching another team go on a run fueled by defense, good
shot selection while forcing the other team into quick bad shots,
turnovers, and just a good old fashioned case of what else can go
wrong. By the time the worst part of the storm was over, an 18-0
slap in the face had sent Lincoln down by 14 just moments after
being up by four. Whether it was drives to the basket or threes from
the likes of Bishop, Rose, or Nick Patton, everything the Lions
touched turned to gold and a stunned Railer Nation watched as their
team was slowly being dismantled.
Finally, with just under two minutes left, Block stopped the
bleeding by converting a four point play, the first of two on the
night, to cut the deficit back to ten. But, it was another three and
Lincoln headed to the break down 13. Now, maybe it is hindsight, but
knowing the outcome, do you wonder if the Lions ever thought about
how nothing went right for the Railers in the second quarter and yet
the lead they enjoyed was only at 13?
Much of the third quarter was spent on a teeter-totter. Hopp got the
scoring started followed by a free throw from Block, but that was
quickly answered by a three from Williams. After another Lions;
basket, Hopp, who scored all 18 of his points in the second half,
continued to find the weak spot in the defense by taking it strong
to the basket. A pair of layups cut the margin back to 11. Again,
though, it was Rose that quelled any momentum. The crowd in
attendance started to get back into the game when Jordan Perry hit a
three followed by another basket credited to Hopp on a goal tending
call. After everything that had happened, it was now just an eight
point game at 39-31.
A drive by Rose pushed it back to ten only to be answered by Cook
who scored on a layup after a steal by Ebelherr and pass by Perry.
Rose again continued to be a thorn (sorry, couldn’t resist) in the
side of the Railers when his offensive rebound and putback made it a
double digit deficit again. The quarter ended with Cook splitting a
pair of free throws, with the Railers down by just nine at 43-34.
Rose again wreaked havoc on the offensive glass with a putback
pushing the Lanphier lead back to eleven. Bishop started to take
over for the Lions hitting a three and short jumper, those shots
sandwiched around a lay-in by Bowers, to put the visitors up 50-37
nearing the middle of the quarter. After Hopp scored again down low
and Bishop made one of two from the line, the Lanphier lead stood at
51-39.
One of the key moments of the game that might have provided just
enough spark for the Railers happened with 4:25 remaining. Block
fired a three from well behind the top of the key, hitting the shot
while getting hit himself as he was fouled by Bishop. However, it
was Bishop that did not immediately get up and as the training staff
from Lanphier gave him attention, it appeared that he had hit his
head while fouling Block. When Bishop first got to his feet, it was
obvious he was a bit dazed and went right past the bench towards the
locker room area. When Block converted his second four point play,
the lead was down to eight and something was in the air.
[to top of second column] |
Patton quickly answered with a three to build the lead back to
11. Now, it was time for the Railers to display how a run should
look. Hopp converted a pair of free threes while Block split a pair.
After a steal and layup by Hopp with 2:37 to go, Lincoln had climbed
back to within six at 54-48. Hopp’s offensive rebound with 1:55 left
made it just a four point contest.
No one scored until Lanphier’s Williams was sent to the line with
57.5 seconds on the clock. He made the first, but missed the second,
keeping it just a five point game. It was Hopp again who made the
game a one possession affair and after a turnover, the stage was set
for the loudest roar of the night. Hopp, who had dominated inside
all night, drove the baseline and when the Lanphier defense
collapsed on him, he found Cook wide open in the left corner for the
three the knotted the game with 24.7 seconds left. Of course, the
Railers had come back but there was the small matter of having to
stop Lanphier, something they had struggled at during parts of the
game. When it was time, the Railer defense stepped up and did not
allow the Lions to get a good comfortable look at the basket and the
folks on Railer Way were going to be treated to some free
basketball.
The overtime session was a continuation of the momentum Lincoln had
during the last half of the fourth quarter. Ebelherr, who was not
being allowed to fight his way to the corner on an inbounds play,
instead cut to the basket and took the pass, scoring to give the
Railers their first lead since being up 15-14. After running the
clock down, Block sank two free throws with 40 seconds left to make
it a four point margin at 59-55. Rose scored for Lanphier with 22.5
seconds to go and after Ebelherr split two free throws with 15.3
seconds left, Lincoln was up 60-57 and the stage was set for another
fantastic finish involving the Railers and the Lions.
With Lincoln up three and Lanphier having run down the clock to just
4.7 seconds left, Coach Alexander chose to foul Lanphier and prevent
a possible tying three pointer. The ball was inbounded to Williams
who was fouled with 3.3 seconds remaining and it was obvious what
the strategy would be; make the first and miss the second hoping to
get a rebound putback to tie the game. Williams kept up his end of
the bargain by making the first, making the score 60-58. His second
attempt never was given a chance as Williams stepped across the free
throw line before the ball hit the rim which is a lane violation and
a turnover.
With 1.3 seconds left, Block, who led the way with 19 points, hit
both free throws to assure the victory. By the way, with those two
free throws, Block moved into first place all-time in Railer history
with 426 free throws made, passing the previous mark held by Gregg
Alexander (424).
Just another Tuesday night at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium.
The Railers had three players in double figures with Block leading
the pack with 19. The senior also moved into fifth all-time on the
scoring list passing Seymour Reed. Block is now just eight points
shy of 1,500 for his career. Hopp’s big night finished with 18
points, while Cook, who hit the biggest shot of the night, ended
with 14 points. Cook is now 25th all-time in three pointers made
with 88. Ebelherr finished with six, while Perry added three and
Bowers scored two.
As Coach Alexander mentioned, the team will not do much on Wednesday
since “they had a hard one tonight,” but they will be back in action
on Friday night as the Panthers from Decatur Eisenhower pay a visit
to Roy S. Anderson. Sophomores will tip things off at 6 with the
varsity scheduled for 7:30. Don’t miss your chance to see this team
as there are only three home games left. Also, by the time the
Railers take the court on Friday, the seeds and pairings should be
available for the state tournament. The seeds are scheduled to be
released on Thursday with the pairing available on Friday. All
things being equal, it would be a hard argument to hear if the
Railers get anything other than the number one seed at the Mt. Zion
regional.
LINCOLN (62)
Block 4 9-12 19, Hopp 8 2-2 18, Cook 5 1-2 14, Ebelherr 2 2-5 6,
Perry 1 0-0 3, Bowers 1 0-0 2. TEAM 21 14-21 62. 3pt FG 6 (Cook 3,
Block 2, Perry).
LANPHIER (58)
Rose 18, Bishop 17, Williams 7, Patton 6, Thames 6, McGee 2, Jackson
2. TEAM 22 4-8 58. 3pt FG 10 (Bishop 4, Williams 2, Patton 2, Rose,
Thames).
LCHS 13-6-15-21-7 62
LANPHIER 9-23-11-12-3 58
[Jeff Benjamin] |
