Railers defeat MacArthur 60-41 to advance to Sectional Championship

[March 12, 2020]  Railer fans packed Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium Wednesday night for the sectional semifinal matchup with the MacArthur Generals. A tiny blob of blue was spotted among the sea of red as Railer fans were eager to cheer on their beloved home team.

The game was fast-paced from the tip-off with the Generals running out to a 4-0 lead over Lincoln.

Back-to-back threes from Kameron Whiteman tied the game 6-6 around the four minute mark.

MacArthur took an 8-6 lead but another three by Lincoln, this time from Landon Hullinger, allowed the Railers to go ahead, 9-8.

Kaden Froebe’s bucket kept Lincoln in front 11-10 but a three from Teandre Woodland put the Generals back on top, 12-11.

A free throw by Hullinger knotted the game at 12-12 as the quarter had just two minutes left.

MacArthur took the lead again, this time on a basket by Omarion Slaw, but Hullinger was quick to connect from long range and drain a three, giving the Railers a 15-14 edge as the fans went crazy.

Dylan Singleton’s quick two around the minute mark settled the first quarter scoring at 17-14 with the Railers in the lead.

Will Ewald stretched the Railer lead to 19-14 early in the second quarter.

Froebe tossed in back-to-back field goals and a six-point lead was the result, 23-17 the score.

After a couple free throws from Singleton were good, Lincoln’s lead stood at 25-19 and then the Generals came marching back. Woodland and Qua Smith each battled in the lane for buckets and closed the gap to 25-23.

Froebe poured in the last six points for Lincoln just before the half to give the 31-27 lead to the home team and just like that a very quick first half was in the books.

Lincoln shot just 5-of-15 from three point range and that would better than what was to come in the second half, believe it or not.

Nick Spannaus dropped in two free throws for the Generals to start the third quarter scoring and MacArthur trailed just 31-29.

Ewald and Singleton came through offensively for Lincoln in the third quarter. The two combined to score eight points for the Railers and give Lincoln a 39-31 lead.

With Froebe and Hullinger finishing the scoring in the quarter and the Railers holding MacArthur to just four total points in the quarter, the Lincoln lead was 42-31.

The Generals used a 4-0 run to start the fourth quarter but Lincoln wasn’t about to back down. After a couple free throws from Froebe, the lead was back to double-digits, 45-35 with 4:20 left in the game.

While the Generals never gave up in the game, they just struggled in that fourth quarter to get any offense rolling.

Meanwhile, Lincoln was 0-for-7 from three-point range in the second half and they had to switch gears and drive more to the basket. Lucky for Lincoln, they can score in the paint when the need arises, as Whiteman and Froebe proved down the stretch.

Throw in Ewald’s clutch free throw shooting and the Railers had a 51-39 lead.

What happened next offensively for the Railers was interesting. Froebe took the shove as he was driving to the basket. The intentional foul resulted in the senior successfully sinking the free shots. The Railers also took the ball out of bounds as a result of the intentional foul and this time it was Singleton grabbing the inbounds pass from Froebe and his basket in the paint amidst traffic was good. A foul resulted in the play and Singleton calmly stood at the free throw line and collected his ‘and one.’ The 56-39 lead certainly relieved Railer fans.

Lincoln had a couple more nice moves in their back pocket and used them as the game was winding down. Hullinger went baseline to collect the pass from Froebe and kiss the glass.

This prompted Railer Nation to chant the ever-popular “Nah Nah Nah Nah Hey Hey Hey Goodbye.”

Finally it was Froebe again on the pass this time to Ewald down under and the smooth senior sporting no. 1 on his jersey simply tossed it off the glass for the Railers final points of the game.

As Ewald back-pedaled downcourt, Railer Nation exploded and went old school with the chant, “Oh baby, oh baby, oh baby oh, you got to be a Railer or you got to go!” Froebe, Ewald and Whiteman all acknowledged Railer Nation and showed their appreciation for the support with a quick slap of their fan’s hands.

The players spent the final seconds on the court just glancing at the clock and going through the motions. The final from Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium: Lincoln 60 MacArthur 41.

Lincoln placed four starters in double-figures: Froebe (18), Hullinger (12), Singleton (12) and Ewald (10).

The Generals pulled down 29 rebounds in the game and scored a lot of their points off second chances but give Lincoln credit for hustling and grabbing 25 team rebounds. Hullinger snagged 8 rebounds while Froebe tallied 6 rebounds for the Railers. Froebe also had 5 assists in the game.

Lincoln (32-2) will play Springfield Lanphier at 7 p.m. on Friday night at Roy S. Anderson for the Sectional Championship.

Go Railers!

Lincoln 60

Froebe 18
Hullinger 12
Singleton 12
Ewald 10
Whiteman 8

MacArthur 41

Spannaus 10
Smith 8
Slaw 8
Campbell 6
Bartley 5
Woodland 4

[Teena Lowery]