Railers boys basketball team moves to 2-0 in CS8 with 51-42 win at Southeast

 

[December 06, 2023]  Springfield – Sometimes the best offense is a good defense.

While the Railer boys basketball team still tries to find its groove offensively, Lincoln continues to play solid defense, giving the team a chance to win as it did at Southeast on Tuesday night, 51-42.

Lincoln hoped to get into a better flow offensively than it had been in its last few games. However, two first quarter fouls sent Drew Hayes to the bench for most of the first half, and the Railer offense never seemed to find its footing.

Fortunately for Lincoln, however, the defense was generally solid and kept Southeast from getting into any kind of rhythm of its own. Although the Spartans blocked several shots and grabbed numerous offensive rebounds, Lincoln led most of the first half and held a 20-15 advantage with two minutes remaining in the first half. Southeast then went on a 7-0 run to take the lead 22-20 at intermission.

“We had a couple times where we went up 4 or 6 points, but we do things to allow people back in the game,” Lincoln coach Neil Alexander said after the game. “We’ve got to clean that up.”

Ki'on Carson

Lincoln opened the third quarter like a team on a mission, and the mission was to regain the lead. Ki’on Carson led the charge as he scored nine of Lincoln’s 11 next points as the Railers held Southeast to a single three pointer during the stretch. With the score 31-25, it appeared Lincoln had turned things around offensively, but Southeast outscored the Railers 10-5 in the remainder of the quarter to trim Lincoln’s lead to 36-35 entering the final stanza.

Drew Hayes

Lincoln opened the third quarter outscoring the Spartans 8-3 to claim a 44-38 lead, getting a pair of baskets from Hayes and one each from Carson and Karson Komnick. While the score ebbed and flowed from that point, Lincoln maintained its lead and came away with a 51-42 win.

Karson Komnick

Hayes led all scorers with 13 points. Komnick and Carson added 11 points each. As a team, Lincoln forced 25 turnovers by Southeast. The Railers also tallied 15 steals in the game.

“The defense is definitely what won the game,” Alexander said. “We scored some easy baskets off of it; we scored maybe a dozen points off our defense, and that makes things a lot easier when you can do that.”

Lincoln shot 33 percent (nine of 27) from the field in the first half, but the Railers bounced back to hit 50 percent (13 of 26) of their field goals in the second half. From beyond the three-point line, Lincoln made only 14 percent of its shots, hitting two of 14 in the game.

“Hopefully our offense is going to come,” Alexander said. “We’ve got good shooters out there, and I have faith in the kids.”
 

The Railers next game takes place at home Friday, Dec. 8 against Jacksonville at 7 PM. Lincoln then travels to East Peoria on Saturday, Dec. 9 for a 6:30 PM tilt.

Box Score

[Loyd Kirby]