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 I mean, honestly, was there anyone else who could have played the
part of the hero on Friday night?
Lincoln senior Jordan Perry drilled his eighth three-pointer of the
night with 2.8 seconds remaining as the Railers survived an upset
bid at the hands of the Springfield Senators 53-52. It was the
perfect ending to a career night for Perry who scored a game-high 24
points, but as the credits rolled on the contest Friday night, those
who were observant might have noticed the fact the movie almost
never made it past the opening credits. We’ll get to that in a
moment.
The senior, brimming with confidence from his performance so far,
called for the play to be run for him in the Lincoln huddle and, as
Coach Neil Alexander said after the game, “he (Perry) said as soon
as it left his hand he knew it was in.” The three put him in rather
rarified air as only three other players (Jason Osborn, Brock
Werner, and Jordan Nelson) in Lincoln history have made more threes
in a game than Perry.
 But, even after hitting the shot, the Railers had to survive a half
court attempt from Springfield’s Taivon Kincaid. As the ball glanced
off the right side of the rim, Railer Nation could exhale as Lincoln
walked out of Willard Duey Gymnasium at 18-4 and 9-3 in Central
State Eight play. Perry’s heroics were necessary after Isaac Nelson
completed a four-point play that put the Senators up 52-50 with 18.9
seconds to go. It was a spot they should not have been in, but free
throw woes crept up at a very inopportune time. “We were lucky
tonight,” Alexander said, “because we missed the front ends of two
one-and-ones late and those could have cost us.”
Even though the Senators came in one game below .500, Coach Matt
Reed’s squad gave the Railers everything they could want and more.
Lincoln’s biggest lead came at 11-2 and the long range shooting of
Nelson and the play of Kincaid and Obediah Church gave the Senators
a chance.
So, back now to how Perry’s big night almost didn’t happen. After
the Railers jumped out to a 5-0 lead behind a baseline jumper from
Payton Ebelherr and a top of the key thee from Gavin Block, the
defensive plan of Springfield was becoming very obvious. In order to
protect the lane, the 6’8” Church was not going to come out on
defense to guard whichever player he was assigned to guard. Early
on, that was Perry. On the possession in question, Perry found
himself with the ball and wide open twice in the far corner, with
fans, coaches, and teammates encouraging, almost pleading with him
to shoot. After passing up the second opening, Coach Alexander went
down the bench and sent junior Garrett Aeilts to the scorer’s bench
to check in. The theory; if Perry isn’t going to shoot, Lincoln
needed someone in who would.
Before Aeilts could get in, Perry got it again and did not hesitate,
hitting the first of his eight threes. Maybe there is some irony
that it put Lincoln up 8-0.
After a basket from Nelson, on his way to a team high 23 points, the
Senators were down 8-2 only to have Perry strike again to push the
advantage to 11-2. Things were looking pretty good for the guests.
Unfortunately, a three from Nelson started the momentum swing and
after a three from Keon Day, the Lincoln lead had been cut to 12-9.
The Railers caught a break when Coach Reed was hit with a technical
foul and Block hit both free throws. The surge continued for
Springfield when Church took a steal and threw down a dunk and when
the Railers were unable to score on the final possession, Lincoln
headed to the second quarter with only a three point lead of 14-11.
Springfield (9-11, 5-6) ran off five in a row to start the second to
take a 16-14 lead, only to have Will Cook answer back just seconds
later and the Railers were up 17-16. After Day hit a floater over
the Lincoln defense to give the lead back to the Senators, the game
turned into Jordan Perry against Springfield. Each time Springfield
would score, Perry would answer with a three. Perry hit three of his
treys in a 9-4 run to put Lincoln back up 26-22. But, it was Nelson
again connected from behind the arc to draw the Senators within one.
A pair of free throws from Isaiah Bowers ended the first half
scoring as the Railers led 28-25.
When Cook made two of three free throws after being fouled behind
the line, the lead had grown back to five at 30-25 and you just felt
as if the Railers could run off six or eight more, this one would
feel a bit more comfortable. But, it was not the case, as Kincaid
and Church brought the game even at 30. Ebelherr have the lead back
to the Railers, scoring on a back door off a pass from Aron Hopp.
The junior was just warming up for his portion of the night.
[to top of second column] |
After Perry’s spectacular first half, the defensive alignment
switched to guard Perry but leave Hopp open. Put in the spot that
Perry was in, Hopp needed to capitalize on his open shots to again
force the defense’s hand. Hopp delivered as he scored eight in a row
during the stretch that saw Lincoln put the lead at six, up 40-34 at
the end of the third quarter.
A basket from Kincaid started the scoring, but was answered on a
back door basket from Block. On the night, the leading scorer for
the Railers was held to just eight points, the first time not
hitting double figures this season. Nelson continued his hot night
scoring the next five and the lead was back to one at 42-41. Perry
came up again from long range only to Kincaid score on an offensive
rebound. There were too many occasions on the night where Kincaid
found no opposition in getting to the offensive glass. A dribble
drive from Ebelherr resulted in a layup but once again Nelson hit a
three and the margin shrank back to one.
Lincoln went back up four at 50-46 when Perry hit yet again and
after Kincaid stepped to the line and made a pair of free throws, it
was the four point play by Nelson that made a two game losing streak
a very real possibility. After a series a timeouts, Lincoln missed a
shot only to have Springfield’s Trevor Minder mishandle the rebound
and dribble it on the baseline, giving the Railers the set up for
the winner. After Perry inbounded, he made his way around to the
left wing and hit number eight with 2.8 left.
Even though Lincoln had grabbed the lead back, there was still a
little matter of defense to take care of. Springfield inbounded the
ball to half court using one second. When Minder inbounded to
Kincaid, his attempt from half court missed and the win column grew
by one. “I thought we played defense very well in those last 1.8
seconds,” Coach Alexander said. “We forced them to take the shot we
wanted them to. We got the win, it may not have been pretty. I think
it was good for us to have a game like this, a close one. To see how
we handle it.”
Yes, it was a win. Many more games like this and I’ll have to
remember the card from my cardiologist.
Only one Railer in double figures tonight. Perry led everyone with
24, with Hopp and Block each scoring eight points. Ebelherr finished
with six, with Cook adding five and Bowers making two free throws.
The Railers are now off until Friday when they head to Decatur to
take on MacArthur in what is shaping up as a battle for the
conference lead. It was only a week ago when the Generals knocked
off the Railers by nine in the final game of the Central State Eight
Tournament. A huge turnout from Railer Nation would be helpful. As a
reminder, the game is being played at the old Stephen Decatur High
School in Decatur.
LINCOLN (53)
Perry 8 0-0 24, Hopp 3 0-0 8, Block 2 3-5 8, Ebelherr 3 0-1 6, Cook
1 2-3 5, Bowers 0 2-2 2. TEAM 17 7-11 53. 3pt FG 12 (Perry 8, Hopp
2, Cook, Block).
SPRINGFIELD (52)
Nelson 23, Kincaid 11, Church 10, Day 6, Watters 2. TEAM 19 6-7 52.
3pt FG 8 (Nelson 6, Kincaid, Day).
LCHS 14-14-12-13 53
SPRINGFIELD 11-14-9-18 52 [Jeff Benjamin]
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