Fourth quarter comeback falls short, Railers fall to Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE 49, LINCOLN 47

[January 21, 2017]  Hoping to run their winning streak to three, the Lincoln Railers found themselves down eleven points early in the fourth quarter. But, as has been evidenced this year, the Railers would not give up and when your biggest weapon is the three point shot, you never feel like you are completely out of the game. In front of the home crowd, Lincoln went on a 12-1 run to tie the game at 47 only to be victimized by the night’s number one villain.

Jacksonville’s Brady Hays scored a game high 26 points, the last two on a 15-footer with 4.6 seconds to go to give the Crimsons a 49-47 win. The Railers had a last second shot but Isaiah Bowers shot from just inside half court missed high off the right side of the backboard and Jacksonville survived the Railer comeback. Hays’ availability for the contest was questionable as he was dealing with a recent shoulder injury. I’m sure Lincoln fans would not have minded had he taken a night to rest his ailing shoulder. However, as much as Hays doomed the Railers, the blame may be staring back at Lincoln when they look in the mirror.

“We came up with ways to give this one away,” Lincoln Coach Neil Alexander said after the game. “I mean, give the kids credit for fighting and coming back but if we win tonight and Eisenhower wins, you have a chance to play for the tournament championship tomorrow night. You have to think of this one as a regional. Win tonight and play for the title. We didn’t do that.”

Of course, if you like shots from long range, Roy S. Anderson was the place to be on Friday night. The teams combined for 19 three-pointers, including some as far away as Hartsburg (OK, a bit of an exaggeration, but threes were falling from deep).

Jacksonville came out of the gate firing with Hays hitting two early threes for a quick 6-0 lead. “You can’t let a shooter like that shoot on the first pass,” Alexander said. “You shouldn’t even let him get the first shot. “ The Railers answered with a pair of threes of their own from Bryson Kirby and Bowers. After some free throws for the Crimsons, Lincoln took their first lead on another three from Kirby, who also was well beyond the three point line. After Garrett Scaman gave the lead back to the visitors, Hays hit his third three of the quarter and the Crimsons extended to a 13-9 lead. The score stayed that way until the final seconds of the quarter. After a miss from the Railers, Drew Bacon tipped in the miss at the buzzer cutting the deficit to just two at 13-11.

The second quarter saw the Railers tie the game early on a lay-up from Ben Grunder. During the quarter break, I would assume Coach Alexander stressed the importance of finding Hays, wherever he was on the court. During the broadcast, it was mentioned numerous times that as soon as he crossed half court, he was in range. Well, while Hays was being covered, James White took on the role of Hays. White, who hit nine threes and scored 34 earlier in the week, hit a three from just inside the volleyball line. Lincoln answered back on a three from Tate Sloan at the top of the key. With the game knotted at 16, White fired in another three, maybe a step deeper than his first to put the Crimsons (13-7, 6-5) up 19-16.

Bacon cut into the lead with two free throws. Hays scored from inside the three point line and a free throw from Brandon McCombs pushed the lead to four at 22-18. As the half wound down, the Railers took advantage of an opening in the Jacksonville defense. Playing a 1-3-1 zone, there was an opening near the top of the key, just to the side. Titus Cannon stepped up the three point line and hit a wide open shot to cut the deficit to one. If once is good, twice is better and the junior struck again from the same spot, this one giving the Railers a two point lead at the half, at 24-22. A key to the Railers grabbing the lead by intermission was the ability to control Hays. The Crimsons’ senior was held to a simple two point basket after his three point barrage in the first quarter.

If you remember, the Crimsons scored the first six points of the game. Jacksonville was able to get quick starts and do the same in the third and fourth quarters. “We were soft starting quarters, that really gave them an advantage,” Alexander said.

It was bad enough that Jacksonville was hitting from long range, but it was worse when they were given not one, but two four-point plays. Hays started the quarter hitting another three in front of the Jacksonville bench and was fouled by Nolan Hullinger. The made free throw moved the Crimsons from down two to up two on the first possession of the half. After an easy layup from Stephen Albers, Kirby hit a three. White then struck on the second four point play, again fouled by Hullinger. The five point lead for the Crimsons was cut to two with another three from Kirby, who had five on the night.

With Lincoln down 32-30, McCombs added a free throw before a basket from Grunder cut the lead to one. A score from Scaman and yet another three from Hays put Jacksonville up 38-32. The three was too easy as Hays caught an inbounds pass in the right corner and fired off a quick shot, seemingly shooting before he caught it. After a steal from Bowers, the ball found its way to Kirby who connected for another three but that would be the last scoring the Lincoln for a while.

A basket from Hays sent the game to the fourth with the Crimsons up 40-35. Again, the first six of the fourth quarter came from Jacksonville. A layup from Hays, a baseline jumper from McCombs, and a putback from an offensive rebound by Hays gave Jacksonville their largest lead of the night at 46-35, a lead that grew thanks to a 13-3 run.

That’s when the Railers began their comeback. Bacon scored an easy layup after a steal by the Lincoln defense. Cannon then stepped up and hit his third three of the night. Following another turnover, Grunder, who was clapping for the ball, took advantage of the opening and hit from three point range and the Crimsons’ lead had been cut to three at 46-43. Grunder brought the Railers closer with a jumper inside the lane. Up 46-45, McCombs was fouled on a shot in the lane but could only split the free throws. With 1:17 to go, Bowers stepped to the line and calmly dropped both free throws to tie the game at 47.

After Jacksonville failed to score, the Railers attempted to run the clock down for a final shot. Unfortunately, it was an ill-timed turnover as the Railers were setting up for a final shot that gave the ball back to Jacksonville with 26 seconds to go. With the night he had been having, it was obvious Jacksonville coach Cliff Cameron would want the ball in Hays’ hands.

And Hays delivered.

The senior dribbled and weaved his way through the Lincoln defense until he pulled up near the free throw line and drained a 15-footer with 4.6 seconds left to put the visitors up 49-47. The Railers called a timeout to set up the final play. After an inbounds pass to Cannon, the ball was kicked back over to Bowers, who dribbled his way through the Crimsons and over half-court, firing up a shot as time was expiring. Unlike Hays, the shot veered off to the right and the Railers had falled at home.

It was definitely a tough one, especially since a win on Friday would have given the Railers a chance to sweep the week, a four game in five day stretch that really could have bolstered this team’s confidence as they headed into the final third of the regular season. Coach Alexander is always talking about playing your best basketball as the season starts winding down heading to state tournament play. It will be important for this team to bounce back on Saturday against a team that already has a victory over them this season.

Kirby topped the Railer scoring with 15, while Cannon and Grunder each had 9. Bacon came off the bench for six points, while Bowers had five and Sloan added three.

The Railers will wrap up the tournament on Saturday as all the non-Springfield teams converge on Rochester. Lincoln will be facing Eisenhower, a team that beat the Railers at Collinsville 38-31 in a game that Lincoln felt they could have won had they performed at the free throw line better than the 7 of 16 that night. Game time is set for 6:30pm at the Rochester Athletic Complex while the sophomores will play at 5:00 at the high school gym. The sophomores got a 41-37 win on Friday.

Other scores from Friday night saw MacArthur rout Rochester 67-35 and Eisenhower beat Glenwood 46-34. With one night to go, the tourney standings are: Eisenhower 3-1, Jacksonville 3-1, Lincoln 2-2, MacArthur 2-2, Glenwood 2-2, Rochester 0-4.

LINCOLN (47)

Kirby 5 0-0 15, Cannon 3 0-0 9, Grunder 4 0-0 9, Bacon 2 2-2 6, Bowers 1 2-2 5, Sloan 1 0-0 3, Hullinger 0 0-0 0. TEAM 16 4-4 47. 3pt FG 11 (Kirby 5, Cannon 3, Grunder, Bowers, Sloan).

JACKSONVILLE (49)

Hays 26, White 10, McCombs 7, Scaman 4, Albers 2. TEAM 17 7-10 49. 3pt FG 8 (Hays 5, White 3).

LCHS 11-13-11-12 47
JACKSONVILLE 13-9-18-9 49

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