Schilling leads Railers to 45-43 win in opening round of Collinsville Tourney

 

[December 28, 2023]  Collinsville – Senior Trey Schilling scored 16 points—including a clutch 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter—to propel the Railers to a 45-43 win over McCluer North in the opening round of the Collinsville Holiday Classic Tournament.

Lincoln played from behind for most of the contest, taking its first lead late in the third quarter when Schilling hit a layup to put the Railers up 30-28. Schilling hit a 3-pointer later in the quarter, capping a stanza in which Lincoln outscored McCluer North 15-6, to give the Railers a 33-28 lead going into the final period.

The Lincoln lead grew to 7 points when Gabe Smith hit a pair of free throws to open the fourth quarter scoring for the Railers. Lincoln equaled that lead when Drew Hayes hit a jumper a few plays later to give LCHS a 40-33 advantage.

Despite cold shooting in the second half, McCluer North rallied to score the next 6 points to trail 40-39. Ki’on Carson found a lane to the basket and drove in for a layup to give the Railers a 42-39 lead, but Kendall Van Dyke hit the last of his three 3-pointers in the game to knot the contest at 42-42.

That set the stage for Schilling’s heroics, as Carson drove into the lane and kicked the ball out to the left wing, where Schilling gathered the pass and drained the shot from behind the arc to put Lincoln up 45-42.

McCluer North had a chance to tie the contest, as Van Dyke was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer, but he made just one of the three free throws he was awarded, and the Railers advanced in the winners bracket with a 45-43 win.

While the Railers have featured an aggressive, smothering defense for much of the season, the offense showed signs of coming around in the second half against McCluer North. The Railers hit 11 of 14 shots (78.6 percent) from the field in the second half, including a perfect 3 of 3 on 3-pointers. That followed a first half in which Lincoln hit 7 of 16 shots from the field and just 1 of 6 3-pointers.

“We thought at halftime that we played maybe the worst half we’ve ever played,” said Lincoln head coach Neil Alexander. “We were not aggressive; it was like we were scared of them. I thought in the second half we came out and were much more ourselves defensively. And we were able to execute [offensively].”

Schilling’s 16 points led all players. He made 4 of 5 3-pointers and was 6 of 7 overall from the field. The Lincoln senior also grabbed 4 rebounds and tallied 2 assists, 1 block and 1 steal.

“He played maybe his best game of the season, so hopefully that’s just a start,” Alexander said. “We’ve got guys we still have got a lot of confidence in. Again, that was a pretty physical game as well. Our guys hung in there and made the plays when we had to.”

Trey Schilling

Ki'on Carson

Ki’on Carson added 10 points for the Railers, and Drew Hayes scored 6. Hayes also grabbed 6 rebounds for Lincoln.

Van Dyke led McCluer North with 13 points. H. Bailey Howard added 11.

The win is Lincoln’s fifth in a row and improves the Railers’ overall season record to 9-3. Lincoln plays Belleville East today at 2:30 PM; the Railers will then play a second game later in the day, with the opponent and start time to be determined based on the outcome of the 2:30 contest. Lincoln will conclude play in the tournament Friday.

Other results from the opening round of the tournament:
• Decatur MacArthur 58, Granite City 51
• O’Fallon 67, Rockford East 36
• Althoff 75, Mundelein 52
• Quincy 76, Oakville (MO) 38
• Triad 41, Carbondale 40
• Collinsville 64, Decatur Eisenhower 47
• Belleville East 52, Colliersville (TN) 49

[Loyd Kirby]