Railers defeat Decatur Eisenhower 42-35

[January 30, 2023]  The Lincoln Railers hosted Decatur Eisenhower on Saturday night and they were able to hold off a late surge by the Panthers and win 42-35.

Lincoln sprinted to a 6-0 lead as Ki’on Carson scored the first basket after a steal and a layup. Drew Hayes dropped in the next four points, two on a lob pass from Trey Schilling. Payton Cook, who had been nursing a bruise above his knee since the January 24th game against Normal West, came in off the bench in the first quarter and he drained a three to put Lincoln up 9-0. After Cook’s long arms caught the lob from Carson and he was able to score, the Railers had an 11-0 lead. The Panthers came back to rattle in a three and the score at the end of the first quarter would be 11-3.

Decatur Eisenhower quickly made it an 11-7 game in the second quarter. After Cook and Camden Nelson scored in the lane, the Railers stretched the lead to 15-7. A 7-0 run by the Panthers was not a surprise but it sure made things interesting. At the half, Lincoln clung to a 16-14 lead.

Cook would guide the Railers to a 20-14 lead quickly in the third quarter. Cook had back-to-back moves in the lane to score, using his athleticism to get to the basket. After the Panthers cut the deficit to 20-18, Schilling came up clutch with a three to distance the Panthers 23-18. After Drew Hayes and Aidan Gowin scored, the Railers lead was 27-22. Before the quarter ended, Camden Nelson would nail a three from the corner and Lincoln was able to hold a 30-24 advantage over the Panthers.

Tyler Sasse’s three by Railer Nation to open the fourth quarter was a sweet shot and it put Lincoln up 33-24. Cook would extend that lead to 35-24 around the four minute mark with his short jumper. After Gowin’s drive to the basket with around three minutes left, the Railers were up 37-27. But here come the Panthers with consecutive 3s to make it a ballgame. They didn’t stop there. A two-point field goal with a minute left hushed the Railer crowd and set the score at 37-35. Lincoln was able to make good on their free throws down the stretch as the Panthers were forced to foul. First, Gowin sank two shots to extend the lead to 39-35 with :45 seconds left. Fifteen seconds later it was Hayes getting two foul shots to fall for a 41-35 lead. Finally with less than ten seconds left, Hayes made 1-of-2 from the free throw line and the 42-35 win was penciled in the books.

Payton Cook led the Railers with 13 points and 8 rebounds in his performance coming in off the bench.

Lincoln improved to 19-4 on the season.

Lincoln won the JV game 41-36. Darren Stevens led the Railers with 12 points and Gabe Smith added 10 points.

Lincoln will host East Peoria on Tuesday night. The JV game will start at 6 p.m. and the Varsity game will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 42
Cook 13
Hayes 9
Gowin 6
Nelson 5
Sasse 3
Schilling 3
Carson 2
Bivin 1

Decatur Eisenhower 35
Clemmons 13
Jackson 9
Smith 4
Green 4
Creason 3
Dabner 2

JV scoring

Lincoln 41
Stevens 12
Smith 10
Sanders 9
Miller 5
Horn 5

Decatur Eisenhower 36
Apholone 14
Yarbary 11
Henderson 4
Moore 3
Garner 2
Washington 2

[Teena Lowery]