Railers dominate Tornadoes in Class 3A Regional Championship

[March 02, 2019] 

Was anybody left in Lincoln Friday night?

It was a whiteout in Railer Nation for the regional championship game versus Taylorville.

Railer Nation packed their side of the gym in Clinton, as did the Taylorville faithful on the opposite side. Extra portable bleachers were placed around the corners for curious basketball fans and still it was standing room only as Lincoln was the host team versus the Tornadoes for the Class 3A Regional Championship Friday night.

The noise was cranked at decibels that could rival a Jonas Brothers reunion concert, if there ever was one.
On the court ten players were pumped and ready to give fans a show that would live up to its hype.

This was the rubber match between the two teams. Lincoln dominated the Tornadoes back on November 30, 2018 for much of the game in Taylorville. A late scare in the fourth quarter, which saw the Tornadoes just pour in three after three, allowed Lincoln to skate out of town with a 67-63 win.

On February 15, 2019 the Tornadoes blew into Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium and escaped with a buzzer-beating three that dashed Lincoln's hopes of a perfect record on their home court for the season. The Tornadoes won that game 44-41 and to Lincoln fans and players, it still hurts. But in the scorebook it was just a loss in the regular season and that's where you'd rather it be down the stretch as March Madness kicks in.

Tim McDougall gets the Railer fans up off their seats to cheer for the boys.

And boy, was March Madness kicked off in a big way Friday night. For starters, the Railers first quarter was phenomenal.

Will Ewald began the game with a three and would eventually hit a couple more to lead Lincoln with 9 points in the quarter.

Kaden Froebe poured in 8 points and played outstanding defense as well. Seven of Froebe's points were in the remaining couple minutes of play for the Railers in the first quarter.

Jermaine Hamlin came up huge with a couple blocks. Hamlin would also toss in a free throw to complete the Railers scoring and allow Lincoln an 18-6 first quarter lead over Taylorville.

Second quarter

Lincoln was pushing the ball into Hamlin as often as they could in the second quarter and when the Taylorville defense fouled him, he was a sure-shot at the line. Hamlin's free throws gave Lincoln a 20-8 lead with 5:56 on the clock.

Back-to-back threes from Kameron Whiteman and Froebe created a 26-11 Lincoln lead and forced the Tornadoes into a timeout. Hamlin would get his second foul at the 3:06 mark and take a seat on the bench for the remainder of the quarter.

Taylorville squeaked their way back into the thick of things with a 6-0 run to close out the half, but it was still a nice 26-17 Lincoln lead as the half-time buzzer sounded.

Third quarter

Nick Livingston's three to start the third quarter for Taylorville maybe caused a little distress for the Railers with the score 26-20, but no reason to signal S.O.S. just yet.

Singleton and Hamlin combined for all of the Railers third quarter offense, which was 14 points. There was a little confusion with the clock at the end of the third quarter, and frankly the Taylorville fans were burnin' up about it and honestly Lincoln was not happy either but before World War III could break out, there was a re-do.

Singleton hit a three the second time around and gave Lincoln a 40-26 lead to close out the quarter. The first time the clock showed .6 seconds and Whiteman got a shot off but something was amiss with the time and the referees needed to discuss things. The re-do was much better for Railer fans.

Fourth quarter

The fourth quarter rolled around pretty quickly and with just a little bit longer to play, the Railers knew what needed to be done. Hold on to that lead.

Froebe got a three to bounce in good early in the fourth quarter and then he tossed up a two that was worthy and before long it was a 45-28 Lincoln lead.

Hamlin converted a three-point play for Lincoln to keep the lead at a distance from the Tornadoes. And then just as if Hamlin said, "Fly with me," he threw down a monster dunk that rattled the rim, shook the backboard and sent the crowd into a frenzy. The lead was 50-32 with just about three minutes left in the game.

Hamlin rolled off a quick four points under the basket to give Lincoln a 54-35 lead.

That was followed by a Lincoln steal and an Ewald layup that stretched the lead to 56-35.

With 1:40 left Hamlin would get comfortable at the free throw line and sink two shots to keep the Railers in front 58-38.

With 1:30 left Hamlin hit 1-for-2 from the charity stripe. He then took a seat on the bench as his night's work was done and it was best he rest. He would be clutching onto that championship plaque pretty soon and needed his strength.

With 1:16 left Froebe found a spot at the free throw line and he swished both before taking his seat on the bench.

The score was 61-38 as both teams emptied their benches. With the subs finishing out the contest Lincoln cruised to a 61-41 regional championship win.

Lincoln's first regional championship since 2014.

As the championship plaque was presented to the Railers, it was Jermaine Hamlin stepping forward to retrieve it. He was immediately surrounded by his teammates as Railer Nation swarmed the court. The players were mobbed as if they were the Jonas Brothers, with Hamlin receiving as much attention as Nick Jonas.

Smiling fans filled the court as the nets were cut down. Froebe and Whiteman walked around draped in the twine and the rest of the Railers grinned from ear to ear greeting family and friends. Everyone was just happy to be a part of something so special.

Five years was a long wait for Railer fans. This one was particularly sweet, as the players noted in their post-game interviews.

REGIONAL CHAMPS! The Lincoln Railers defeat Taylorville 61-41 to win the Regional Championship.
 

Jermaine Hamlin kept a tight hod on that championship plaque as the Railers prepared to leave Clinton.

Hamlin, who was so gracious posing for pictures with just about everyone in the gym as he clutched the regional championship plaque, was indeed elated about earning his first regional championship.

"It is amazing," said Hamlin. "On the ride here I was thinking, "I don't want to end my senior year here." We gotta win this game no matter what it takes. We came out here and played hard. Everybody contributed and we came out on top. It feels really good."

Hamlin led the way with 22 points and pulled down 8 rebounds.

Will Ewald came out on fire early in the first quarter. His three opened the scoring for the Railers and the junior would go on to connect for a couple more treys within the first four and a half minutes of play. Ewald propelled the team out to an 11-4 lead and it was a beautiful sight to see. His concentration was clear from the start and the junior didn't deny the game was on his mind all day.

A timeout gives Coach Alexander a chance to emphasize the game plan to Will Ewald.

"I couldn't really focus on schoolwork today. I was too busy focusing on the game tonight and it paid off for me. I've been shooting all week with Coach Gregg and my shot has improved a lot. I got out of my slump tonight."

Ewald finished with 11 points. He was quick on defense with a couple steals, too.

Kameron Whiteman tossed in a three and contributed five assists and two steals in the win. His solid effort allowed Lincoln to remain consistent and while you don't find a stat for attitude, Whiteman has the right stuff.

"After they beat us at home on that buzzer-beater we had a mindset coming in here that we weren't losing this one. Will came out firing and that was good to see. We had a good two days of practice and we were fired up for this one," said Whiteman.

Kaden Froebe, who poured in 18 points, pulled down 8 rebounds and got away with 4 steals, echoed Whiteman's sentiments. "It was that buzzer-beater on our home court. We did not want that same feeling again. We did not want that from Taylorville. Lanphier and Taylorville are our rivals. That's why I think this regional is so special. We beat both Lanphier and Taylorville, so that's just perfect."

Dylan Singleton, the lone sophomore in the starting lineup who makes things run smoothly, finished with seven points, four rebounds and three assists.

Of Lincoln's dominating win, Singleton said, "It was just the coach's game plan and we just went out and fulfilled that and we came out with the dub. I was just thinking we gotta stop the shooters, we gotta stop dribble-drive and that's what we did to win."

All night long the Railers cheerleaders pumped up the crowd.

To sum things up you could really say the Railers came into the championship game with a vibe like, "I got a feeling tonight's gonna be a good night." It sure was.

Coach Neil Alexander has a group of outstanding young men that make up the 2018-19 Railers "and that makes my job easy," said the Railers veteran coach. "Our game plan was basically to guard the arc and we did a nice job with that," said Alexander. Noting that they held the Tornadoes to just six threes on the night, Alexander was very proud of his team, but not satisfied. "We get another game and get to play Wednesday night, so we've got some preparing to do."

Lincoln (26-4) will play Urbana on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in the Sectional hosted by Springfield Southeast. Southeast will play on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. versus Champaign Central. The winners will meet on Friday night at 7 p.m. for the Sectional Championship.

Taylorville ends the season with a 26-7 record.

In other regional championships:

Urbana edged Effingham 57-56 on a last-second three-pointer to win the regional Friday night.

Champaign Central needed overtime to beat Decatur MacArthur 71-70 to win the regional Friday night.

Springfield Southeast beat Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 71-58 to win the regional Friday night.


Scoring

Lincoln 61

Hamlin 22
Froebe 18
Ewald 11
Singleton 7
Whiteman 3

Taylorville 41

Bergschneider 17
Ess 9
N. Livingston 5
Odam 3
Odugbesan 3
Wright 2
Kettelkamp 2

[Teena Lowery]