High School Boys Basketball
Cook and Nelson lead Railers past Bloomington 58-53

[January 18, 2023]

The Railers hosted Bloomington on Tuesday night and after trailing for much of the game, Lincoln successfully came back and won 58-53 over the Raiders.

Payton Cook and Camden Nelson led the comeback.

Nelson scored all of his 11 points in the fourth quarter and Cook completed his stellar night with a double-double, scoring 24 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.

The Railers found themselves down 18-13 in the first quarter.

At the half Lincoln was trailing 31-28.

A five-point deficit was the story of the third quarter, with Bloomington on top 43-38.

The Raiders scored quickly in the fourth quarter to build a 45-38 lead over Lincoln. But here come the 3s. Nelson, who had to yet to score, caught fire from long range with his first deep three to make the score 45-41. After the Raiders scored a bucket, it was Nelson again with a deep three from the corner and the score was now 47-44. Seconds later it was Aidan Gowin stealing Nelson’s spot in the corner and he drained a three to tie the game, 47-47.

The Railers and their fans react to the fourth quarter comeback by Lincoln.

With the game tied and a little more than five minutes remaining, the Raiders tried to stall a bit but ended up turning the ball over. This gave Lincoln an opportunity to take over the lead and they did!

Gowin attempted another corner three that shot off the rim and with Cook leaping out of bounds to snag the rebound, he quickly tossed it to Trey Schilling. Schilling threw a strike out to Nelson at the top and “Nelly” hit another three for the 50-47 lead. The play was perfectly executed. Lincoln had the lead and Bloomington was rattled.

A bucket by Drew Hayes extended the lead to 52-47 as the Raiders couldn’t do anything except commit turnovers.

After Cook sank two free throws at the 2:43 mark, the Railers were up 54-47. There was still plenty of ballgame left, but the Railers were definitely in control on their home court, having just completed a 10-0 run.

Adam Beasley was relentless though and he sank a three at the 2:20 mark to keep the Raiders alive, 54-50 now the score. With just under two minutes left in the game, Nelson caught a rebound and he was quick to fire up a two and Lincoln stretched the lead to 56-50. The game was far from over with Beasley immediately hitting a three from the top for Bloomington and the barnburner continued. Lincoln was in front 56-53 with 1:40 left to play. Cook’s basket at the 1:07 mark allowed Lincoln a 58-53 lead.

After several missed attempts by Bloomington to score, that would be the final score.

With the help of Nelson’s spectacular 11-point quarter, the Railers thrill the Tuesday night crowd and improve their record to 15-4 on the season.

Payton Cook dominated the game with a double-double. He had 24 points and 12 rebounds.

Adam Beasley and Craig Newsome each led the Raiders with 16 points.

Lincoln won the JV game 59-23. Darren Stevens led the Railers with 16 points.

Lincoln will host Rock Island on Saturday night at 7 p.m. The JV game will start at 5:30 p.m.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 58

Cook 24
Nelson 11
Hayes 7
Sasse 6
Bivin 4
Gowin 3
Schilling 3

Bloomington 53

Newsome 16
Beasley 16
Thompson 13
Shuey 6
Stephens 2

JV scoring

Lincoln 59

Stevens 16
Miller 13
Smith 8
Hayes 6
Komnick 5
Horn 4
Graue 3
Sanders 2
Tungate 2

Bloomington 33

Jones 8
Clarke 7
Tindall 6
Robinson 5
Hamalton 4
Reed 3

[Teena Lowery]