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 On Tuesday night, maybe the Railers were taking a page out of
that book.
In a mid-week contest that did not display the accurate three-point
shooting or the crisp motion offense Railer Nation has seen over the
past few games, Lincoln found a way to grind out a 44-31 win over
Springfield Southeast in a return to Central State Eight play. The
win bumps Lincoln’s record to 13-2 overall and 4-1 in conference.
“We gave up too many easy shots, they were able to get quick
scores,” Lincoln Coach Neil Alexander said after the game. “We
didn’t respond as well as we should have…but here I am sounding like
I am complaining about our defense and we only gave up 31 points.”
That defense also held Southeast to 29 percent shooting on 12 of 41
shooting, allowing only one make on 11 attempts from three-point
range.
In a game where, uncharacteristically, the Railers did most of their
damage from inside the three-point line (16 of 21 on the night), it
was a three-pointer from Payton Ebelherr to put Lincoln on the
board. Little did we know that would be half of the threes they
would make on the evening. After a lob pass and basket from Sabree
Bakrari to start the scoring for Southeast, a spin move in the lane
and basket from Gavin Block put Lincoln up 5-2. A conventional three
point play from D’Angelo Hughes tied the game at five only to have
Block, the game’s leading scorer with 17, put the home team back up
by two with a baseline drive and score.
By the time Block scored again, he would be putting an end to a
Southeast 8-0 run started by dunk from Bakari. Hughes used his
quickness, both his hands and feet, to turn steals into scores.
After a basket from Treyvon Williams, Southeast had raced to a 13-7
lead. Block’s 15-footer snapped the streak and cut the Railer
deficit to four. With Southeast up 15-9, a seemingly innocent basket
by Block in the lane off a nice feed from Isaiah Bowers started the
run that would ultimately be the difference in the game. Bowers hit
a jumper from the free throw line near the end of the first quarter
to bring Lincoln’s deficit to just two at 15-13.
The two Lincoln scores at the end of the first would propel the
Railers on a 19-0 run that would stretch into the third quarter.
Again, the inside game was working for the Railers as they took
advantage of Southeast’s matchup zone. Aron Hopp, who joined Block
in double figures with 10 points, notched his first points of the
night by using his athleticism to grab an offensive rebound over two
Spartans, and toss the rebound in before landing. Bower’s ability to
find the open man continued as hit he Hopp inside to increase the
Lincoln lead to 20-15. The one main inside presence Southeast had in
the 6’4” Bakari was relegated to the bench at the 1:12 mark in the
first half after picking up his third foul.
Hopp closed out the first half scoring with a drive resulting in a
three point play to put the Railers up 23-15. In a game that was
decided by defense, the Railers held Southeast scoreless in the
second quarter.
In a case of déjà vu, Lincoln’s first basket of the second half was
also a three-pointer as Will Cook hit the second and last three of
the night for the Railers. Another drive by Hopp pushed the lead to
28-15. Finally, with 4:47 left in the third quarter, Southeast’s
Harrison Devoe got one to fall for the Spartans to end the
impressive Lincoln run, making the score 28-17. Devoe scored on the
next possession to bring the Lincoln lead to under double figures.
Block answered back for the Railers on a back door pass from
Ebelherr. It is a play usually called for when Lincoln needs a
basket.
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With Lincoln up 31-22 going into the fourth quarter, it didn’t feel
as though they were clicking on all cylinders. The shots that had
been falling weren’t. The crisp, snappy passing was replaced by
tired- looking, one-handed push passes that didn’t appear they were
going to make it to their intended destination. A steal and basket
from Hughes brought Southeast to within eight at 32-24, but that was
responded to as Hopp found Block on a back door. Freshman Isaiah
Bowers scored after the lane opened up and he converted on a layup
and then connected on a pair of free throws to put the Railers up
38-26.
Southeast, a team that would not go away on Tuesday night, scored
the next five to cut the Lincoln lead to seven. With the game
setting at 38-31, the Railer defense made its final stand, holding
the Spartans (8-6) scoreless the rest of the game. A drive down the
left side of the lane from Block followed by a pair of inside scores
from Cook gave Lincoln the 13 point win. An area of concern was
again free throw shooting as Lincoln made only 3 of 7 in the fourth
quarter including misses on their final three shots. For Lincoln,
fortunately the lead was enough of a cushion to withstand the
misses.
We may be almost two weeks past Christmas, but if Coach Alexander
could get one thing for the holidays, it would be routine. “I just
want to get into a normal routine, both with practice and games,
although we did seem to do OK without routine last week.” Well, that
hope for routine may be put on hold this week. With classes
cancelled for Wednesday due to the predicted cold temperatures and
wind chills, and the possibility of similar weather later in the
week, getting back to school and a routine may have to wait a while.
Let’s hope the wait for the Railers to return to their Collinsville
form ends on Friday.
Lincoln was led by Block (17) and Hopp (10) as the only Railers in
double figures. Cook scored seven, all in the second half, with
Bowers adding six and Ebelherr scoring four.
There will not be much time to think about this one as the Railers
head to Lober-Nika Gymnasium on Friday night to square off against
Lanphier. There is always something special when the marquee reads
Lincoln vs. Lanphier. The Lions will be trying to bounce back from
an overtime loss to MacArthur on Tuesday night. The sophomore squad,
which opened the night with a convincing 53-24 win over Southeast,
will tip the evening at 6:00 with the varsity pegged to go at 7:30.
LINCOLN (44)
Block 8-10 1-4 17, Hopp 4-4 2-3 10, Cook 3-10 0-0 7, Bowers 2-4 2-2
6, Ebelherr 1-4 1-3 4, Perry 0-0 0-0 0, Aeilts 0-0 0-0 0, Fry 0-0
0-0 0, Biggs 0-0 0-0 0, O’Donoghue 0-0 0-0 0. TEAM 18-32 6-12 44.
3pt FG 2-11 (Cook 1-6, Ebelherr 1-4, Block 0-1).
SOUTHEAST (31)
Hughes 11, Devoe 6, Johnson 6, Walton 3, Johnson 3, T.Williams 2.
TEAM 12 6-9 31. 3pt FG 1 (Walton).
LCHS 13-10-8-13 44
S’EAST 15-0-7-9 31
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