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 Railer Nation went home happy on both accounts.
The Lincoln Railers placed four players in double figures as they
ran their winning streak to six with a convincing 67-49 win over the
Panthers. At the same time, Southeast was able to hold off Glenwood
47-44, allowing the Railers to move into first place all alone. Of
course, it will be Lincoln traveling to Southeast on Tuesday trying
to avoid the same fate as Glenwood.
After Tuesday night’s heart-stopping overtime win over Lanphier, it
was clear the Railers were ready to come out early and make a
statement against Eisenhower, a team they handled by 33 in
mid-January. By the end of the first quarter, it was obvious that
statement was “we are ready.”
 Lincoln used a 16-4 run behind hot shooting to start the game and
take control. A right-wing three from Will Cook followed by a basket
from Payton Ebelherr got the Railers out to an early 5-0 lead. After
a rebound basket from Eisenhower’s Braxton Woodland on a tip-in, it
was Gavin Block hitting a pair of free throws and then a three,
followed by a top of the key three from Jordan Perry. When Block,
who led the way with 16 points, hit again for three, he pushed the
lead to 16-4. Block also reached 1,500 career points, one of only
five players to achieve that feat in Railer history.
Eisenhower’s Stephon Jarrett, a sophomore that will be one to reckon
with over the next two years, scored the game’s next five to keep
the Panthers (8-17, 4-12) close. After Cook hit a pair of free
throws, two of his 13 on the night, the Railers were faced with some
early and unexpected adversity. At the 2:14 mark of the first
quarter, Block picked up his second foul and headed to the bench.
So, by the time Block would make it back to the game, how would the
Railers fair?
Pretty well I’d say.
It wasn’t until early in the second quarter when Lincoln coach Neil
Alexander reinserted Block into the lineup. While the Railers’
leading score was on the bench, Lincoln outscored Eisenhower 14-2
behind the duo of Ebelherr and Aron Hopp. The run started when Hopp
scored on a one hand tip in after an offensive rebound. Ebelherr
then scored off an inbounds play and ended the first quarter by
hitting a three pointer as time expired, expanding the Lincoln lead
to 25-9 after one.
Ebelherr continued his strong first half by getting fouled as he
scored on an inbounds pass. His free throw gave the senior ten
points and boosted the margin to 17 at 28-11. Hopp finished out the
Block on the bench portion of the game with two free throws as the
lead had grown to 30-11. The next part of the Lincoln attack came
from the corners as Cook and Isaiah Bowers each hit threes and the
first half blowout was in full force with the Railers up 36-13. A
lead like that would relax any coaching staff, but it certainly
could have been different. “They have had their ups and downs, they
are a dangerous team,” Alexander said. “They succeed by getting you
to play their game, but we kept at our game and played really well
tonight.”
 Bowers scored on a layup off a nifty crossover move to put Lincoln
up 40-17, just moments before Block picked up his third foul. KJ Fry
continued the scoring while splitting free throws and when Hopp hit
a 15 footer as the buzzer sounded for halftime, Lincoln headed to
the locker room up 43-22. Looking at the halftime numbers, it was
easy to see how the Railers had built their lead. You would like to
think shooting 67 percent (14 of 21) would get you a lead like that
especially when the team started 13 of 17, including 7 of 8 from
behind the arc.
If Eisenhower had any hopes of pulling off a miracle comeback, that
probably ended in the second half’s first few seconds. With the
Railers (23-4, 13-3) getting the ball to start the half, it was two
passes later when Block was wide open under the basket for a lay up.
It appeared Block was not being defended, partially because it
seemed Eisenhower forgot which way Lincoln was going for the second
half.
[to top of second column] |
Much of the second half felt as though the Railers had dropped
into cruise control. As time ticked down near the end of the third
quarter, a drive by Cook sent Lincoln to their largest lead of the
night at 59-29. With many of the regulars for the Railers on the
bench, or heading that way, Eisenhower stayed with their starters,
going on a 13-2 run to draw within 61-42 in the fourth quarter. The
run was ended when Garrett Aeilts drove down the lane and found an
open David Biggs for his only points of the night while Fry pulled
up from 15 feet to put Lincoln up 65-42.
Lincoln’s final points of the night came on a little floater in the
lane from Aeilts, giving the Railers their highest output of the
season with the 67 points and an 18 point win. The Railer fans in
attendance were able to figure out early on this would be a
comfortable evening, but going in, it was not so much for the
coaches.
“Going into this one, they scared us,” Alexander said. “The way we
handled them earlier, I was worried we might overlook them.”
Block led the contest with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Cook
added 13. Ebelherr and Hopp each scored 10 points, with Perry
hitting two threes for six. Hopp also dished out a team high six
assists. Bowers scored five with Fry adding three and Aeilts and
Biggs chipping in with a basket apiece.
 Lincoln will next be in action on Saturday as Joliet Central comes
to town for a full day of basketball. There will be a freshman game
tipping off at 4:00, with the sophomores scheduled for 5:30pm. If
everything is on schedule, the varsity will go at 7:00. It will be
8th grade night at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium as the feeder schools
basketball players and cheerleaders will be recognized during the
evening.
Earlier in the day, the IHSA released the pairings for this year’s
tournament. Lincoln was named the number one seed in the Mt. Zion
regional and will play the winner of Mt. Zion and Paris on Tuesday,
March 3rd at 6:00pm. The regional final will be the following Friday
against either MacArthur or Eisenhower.
LINCOLN (67)
Block 6 2-2 16, Cook 4 2-2, Ebelherr 4 1-1 10, Hopp 4 2-2 10, Perry
2 0-0 6, Bowers 2 0-0 5, Fry 1 1-2 3, Aeilts 1 0-0 2, Biggs 1 0-0 2,
Kirby 0 0-0 0, Hullinger 0 0-0 0. TEAM 25 8-9 67. 3pt FG 9 (Cook 3,
Perry 2, Block 2, Ebelherr, Bowers).
EISENHOWER (49)
Jarrett 14, Byars 13, B.Woodland 10, Freeman 6, Gude 3, Hale 2,
Coleman 1. TEAM 20 6-8 49. 3pt FG 3 (Gude, Jarrett, Byars).
LCHS 25-18-16-8 67
EISENHOWER 9-13-9-18 49 [Jeff Benjamin]
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