Railers make it exciting as they edge Effingham 62-61

[February 09, 2019] 

Just another thrilling Friday night at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium with the Flaming Hearts of Effingham in town this time. Lincoln held on for the 62-61 win after an attempted buzzer-beater by the Hearts fell short. Time to exhale and read all about it.

Lincoln wins the tip and the Railers are off and running. The scoring began with a couple free throws by Kaden Froebe after he was fouled taking the ball to the basket.

Lincoln jumped out to a 4-0 lead after a field goal by Jermaine Hamlin.

Landon Wolfe of Effingham started his stellar evening performance with a three for the Hearts and it was quickly a 4-3 ballgame.

Another field goal by Hamlin and threes out of Froebe and Dylan Singleton and Lincoln had a 12-8 lead.

The game was moving fast, with Singleton wasting no time at the point position. This kid is just rising to the occasion night in and night out. He completed a three-point play with 1:22 left in the first quarter put Lincoln on top 15-11.

After Hamlin rebounded his own miss and put it up for two points, Lincoln held a 17-13 lead.

To close out the first quarter the Railers held out for a last second shot and Kameron Whiteman delivered. Wow did he deliver. This kid wasn't even in the same zip code as Lincoln when he released that ball.

Standing on the "A" in "Railers" on Neil Alexander Court he tossed up a beauty for a buzzer-beating three and a 20-15 Lincoln lead. Signed, sealed and delivered ~ Express Mail at its finest.

The second quarter offered more great Railer plays.

Will Ewald came out and hit a three sandwiched in between baskets by Singleton and Froebe.

Singleton preferred his points served up in the lane and Froebe was content dropping them in from the free throw line.

Sweet layups by Whiteman and Singleton capped off the first half scoring and Lincoln went to the locker room with a 38-31 lead.

The third quarter got off to a good start with Hamlin dropping in two points over Cole Marxman. Hamlin owned this guy all night long, holding the Hearts 6'8 center to just six points.

Whiteman gave Lincoln 43-33 lead after his three from the top of the arc breezed through the net. Between baskets by Froebe, Ewald and Hamlin, Lincoln managed to maintain a 10-point lead throughout the quarter. At the end of three quarters the lead rested at 53-43.

Between baskets by Froebe, Ewald and Hamlin, Lincoln managed to maintain a 10-point lead throughout the quarter. At the end of three quarters the lead rested at 53-43.

Hold on tight for the wild ride that is the fourth quarter.

A free throw by Hamlin at the 7:18 mark would be the end of the scoring for Lincoln for a while.

The Hearts outscored Lincoln 13-1 in a long stretch of action that resulted in a shocking lead change. With Effingham on top 56-54 with 3:24 left in the game, the Railers desperately needed to regroup.

No worries out of Coach Neil Alexander's bunch. Hamlin tied the game 56-56 with two points in the paint with around three minutes left in the game. The big guy then came up huge with a block at the other end to deny the Hearts with 2:22 showing on the clock.

A miss at Lincoln's end by Ewald put the ball back in the hands of Effingham. Landon Wolfe was pretty unstoppable on this night and his three put the Hearts up 59-56 with 1:28 left in the game.

With 1:03 remaining Singleton was at the line shooting the bonus and he delivered. Two free throws through the net later and Lincoln was within reach of a win, trailing just 59-58.

With 38.8 seconds left it would be Parker Wolfe extending the Hearts lead to 61-58 with a couple free throws.

Railer Nation and the Railers Cheerleaders turned in consistently stellar performances all night long

Breathe, Lincoln fans, breathe.

Froebe's drive and basket up over three Effingham defenders pulled Lincoln closer, 61-60 as 24.5 seconds showed on the clock.

Effingham makes it a close contest in the fourth quarter.

Lincoln was obviously in the position to force fouls and got a break when Tate Niebrugge missed the front end of the bonus as the clocked showed 22.5 seconds. Lincoln got the rebound and up the court the Railers go.

With the clock ticking, Froebe tossed the ball into the hands of Hamlin and he delivered the biggest bucket of the night. Leaping into the air with Landon Wolfe and Cole Marxman all over him, Hamlin just barely got a piece of the rim and laid the ball in. Lincoln was up 62-61.

With 7.0 seconds left the Hearts had a chance. Landon Wolfe would have loved to cap his 28-point performance off with a game-winning shot but his corner three hit the front of the rim and bounced off. Lincoln escapes with a 62-61 win.

Kaden Froebe led Lincoln with 19 points.

Jermaine Hamlin finished with 16 points.
Dylan Singleton was outstanding with 14 points.

The Railers improve to 21-2 and remain a perfect 11-0 at the top of the Apollo Conference they have already claimed.

JV

Effingham did put a dagger in the hearts of the Lincoln JV team with a buzzer-beating three to take that game 47-45.

Landon Hullinger, who took an elbow to the eye and finished the night with what looked like a golf ball on his eyelid, had 14 points to lead the Railers.

Keagan Ferguson tossed in 13 points for Lincoln.

Lincoln's JV falls to 16-4 on the season.

The Railers are back in action tonight at home versus Wheaton-Warrenville South. The JV tips at 5 p.m tonight. The varsity will tip at 6:30 p.m.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 62

Froebe 19
Hamlin 16
Singleton 14
Whiteman 8
Ewald 5

Effingham 61

L. Wolfe 28
P. Wolfe 16
Marxman 6
N. Thompson 6
D. Thompson 3
Stoneburner 2

JV scoring

Lincoln 45

Hullinger 14
Ferguson 13
Tungate 8
McCraith 3
Grunder 3
B. Whiteman 2
Klopp 2

Effingham 47

Briggerman 14
Lee 10
Niebrugge 10
Duncan 6
Woelfer 3
Stoneburner 3
Ritz 1

[Teena Lowery]