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 The numbers? They represent the margins on the seven times Lincoln
has lost by four or fewer points on the season. Just that close.
But, so far, they have not found a way to win “that game” and hit
“that shot.” Last night, the Railers had a chance. With the Railers
down by two, Southeast’s D’Angelo Hughes missed a free throw with
6.7 seconds to go that was rebounded by Aron Hopp. The senior took
the rebound along the left sideline, momentarily bobbled the ball,
but gathered it in. Getting past his defender, Hopp cut toward the
lane, lifted off from near the low block, and hoisted a shot off the
glass. As they ball ricocheted off the glass, it hit the front of
the rim and rolled over and off, allowing the Spartans to survive
their tip to Lincoln and get the two point win.
“It was not the shot Hoppy missed at the end that lost the game,”
Lincoln coach Neil Alexander said after the game. “It was our
execution and we did not do that very well tonight. We tried to
execute a set at the end of the first half and we threw the ball
into the bleachers. I mean how many times, that’s a Lincoln
tradition, to execute and we’re just not doing it.”
Defensively, the Railers held the Spartans without a fourth quarter
field goal but Southeast did just enough from the line, going 7 of
10 to secure the win. It was a far cry from their performance from a
couple weeks ago when they missed 22 free throws in a six point
loss.
Lincoln (15-14, 8-9) started their comeback early in the fourth
quarter. Down 40-32, Bryson Kirby hit his second big three of the
night to pull the Railers within five. Hopp hit a pair of free
throws and drove down the left side of the lane for a lay-in to cut
the deficit to one at 40-39. Trevyon Williams hit two free throws to
stretch the lead back to three. After a miss from Ben Grunder on the
front of a one and bonus, Jordan Stapleton split a pair from the
charity stripe to put Southeast up 43-39.
Southeast was very conscious of Lincoln’s propensity to shoot from
outside so as the Spartans challenged the three point line, the
Railers took advantage of their overplay. Senior Garrett Aeilts got
past his defender and scored a layup with 25.6 remaining to cut the
game to 43-41. Hughes missed one of two from the line allowing
Lincoln to draw even closer as Hopp hit another drive with 7.9
seconds left on the clock. That set the stage for the final 6.7
seconds remaining, resulting in another close one that could have
been.
Southeast outscored Lincoln 14-7 in the third, the eight minutes
that may have been the difference in the game. “I thought their
effort in the third quarter was much better than ours,” Alexander
said. “They definitely outplayed us.”
After all the ceremony of Senior Night, the Railers came inspired.
Aeilts hit a three from the right wing in the game’s first ten
seconds to put Lincoln on the board followed by fellow senior KJ
Fry. Fry’s three put Lincoln up 6-0. A three from Hughes got the
Spartans (19-6, 13-4) on the board, but a Hopp free throw extended
the lead to 7-3. Southeast quickly tied the game at 7 and did so
with Lincoln’s leading scorer on the bench. With 5:06 left in the
first, Hopp picked up his second foul. This team is not the same
with number five not on the floor. “We have to have Hopp out there,
not sitting next to the coaches,” Alexander said. “We had to gamble
some at points and put him out there. If we wait, by the time he
gets back out there, it may be too late.”
[to top of second column] |
Southeast continued on a 9-2 run to take a 12-9 lead, but Aeilts
tied the game at 12 with his second three of the night and 50th of
the season. Isaiah Bowers answered a Spartan score to even the game
at 14 and then the Railers got a bit of good fortune at the end of
the quarter. As Bowers drove at the end of the quarter, he missed
but Hopp swooped in to grab the offensive rebound and score on the
putback before setting foot back on the floor. Hopp’s score gave the
Railers a 16-14 lead.
Early in the second, Bowers hit a three to give the Railers their
largest lead of the night at 21-16. Southeast started a 14-2 run
that covered the rest of the second and part of the third. With 2:54
left in the third quarter, Alexander had no choice but to call a
timeout after the Spartans had blasted out to a 30-23 lead. Kirby
hit a three to end the run and pull Lincoln within four and Hopp hit
two more free throws to bring the game back to just two at 30-28.
With Southeast up 33-28, the end of the third was one bad event
after another. With 1:49 to go, Hopp was forced back to the bench
with his fourth foul. Up five at 35-30. Southeast hit a dagger as
Kobe Medley drained a three from the corner as time expired to
expand the lead back to eight.
Hopp was the lone Railers in double figures with 15 points. Bowers
added nine with Aeilts scoring eight. Kirby’s two threes gave him
six with Fry scoring three and Grunder adding two.
So, the regular season has come down to one game and that is Friday
in Chatham. After Glenwood’s victory over Lanphier on Tuesday,
Glenwood is still in the running for the conference championship. In
Glenwood’s way? The Lincoln Railers. As if anything else needed to
be added to the ingredients for a Lincoln-Glenwood matchup, now
there is the opportunity for the Railers to play spoilers and be a
factor in deciding the conference champion. Should be a fun one
Friday.
LINCOLN (43)
Hopp 5 5-6 15, Bowers 3 2-2 9, Aeilts 3 0-0 8, Kirby 2 0-0 6, Fry 1
0-0 3, Grunder 1 0-1 2, Biggs 0 0-0 0. TEAM 15 7-9 43. 3pt FG 6 (Aeilts
2, Kirby 2, Fry, Bowers).
SOUTHEAST (45)
Hughes 14, Williams 8, Fairlee 8, Stapleton 6, Medley 6, Walton 3.
TEAM 16 7-11 45. 3pt FG 6 (Hughes 2, Medley 2, Walton, Stapleton.
LCHS 16-7-7-13 43
SOUTHEAST 14-10-14-7 45
[Jeff Benjamin] |
