LINCOLN 67, EISENHOWER 49

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[February 21, 2015]  LINCOLN —  As Railer Nation filed into Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium Friday night, it was more than obvious who would be the target of their cheering as the homestanding Railers were preparing to battle Decatur Eisenhower. However, one could understand if a bit of their rooting energy was directed towards Southeast as they battled Glenwood, the team tied atop the conference standings with Lincoln.

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.

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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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