Railers show signs of potential, effects of injury bug in 2-2 showing at Collinsville Holiday Tournament

 

[December 30, 2024]  COLLINSVILLE – As the Railer boys basketball team continues to search to find its identity while riding out the wave of injuries to its key players, perhaps the squad identifies best with athlete Vinko Bogataj.

Vinko Bogataj. Ever heard of him? Perhaps not by name, but readers of a certain age might remember seeing his image each week as Jim McKay narrated the opening to the television program “ABC’s Wide World of Sports.” As McKay uttered the famous passage about the program bringing viewers “the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat,” Bogataj was the skier whose footage was shown as he crashed during a competition.

While the Railers have definitely not crashed, a few of the walking wounded on the team’s roster probably feel as if they’ve been through a crash or two. And the squad certainly experienced both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat during its 2-2 showing in the Prairie Farms Holiday Classic Tournament at Collinsville.

Lincoln opened the tournament with a 44-35 win over Mundelein on Friday evening. That game was detailed in this article published the following day.
 

That victory moved the Railers into the winners’ bracket for an early afternoon game against a very athletic Belleville East team. Perhaps it was the drain from playing less than 24 hours earlier or the shell shock of hot shooting by Belleville East, but the Railers looked sluggish from the opening tip. The Lancers outscored Lincoln 23-8 in the first period en route to a 62-36 running clock defeat of LCHS.

There were glimmers of positives for Lincoln, such as Gabe Smith’s team-high 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and a perfect 4 of 4 on free throws. But the most positive signs for the Railers were actually seen in what happened in the following game.

The Railers just couldn’t seem to find their footing in the Saturday afternoon contest against Belleville East, and following a loss by 20-plus points, it would have been easy for the Railer players to simply phone it in for the rest of the weekend. Lincoln had to play just five hours after the defeat in a 9 PM game. In addition, the opposition was the host school, Collinsville, which figured to have a sizable crowd to watch the Kahoks on their home floor.

Just as crushing as “the agony of defeat” may have been following the loss to Belleville East, the Railsplitters also experienced “the thrill of victory” in their game versus Collinsville, beating the Kahoks 54-49 in overtime.

The game was tied 23-23 at halftime, but Collinsville used a 14-11 third quarter scoring advantage to pull ahead going into the final stanza. Again, with the wind taken out of their sails earlier in the day, Lincoln could’ve simply settled in and been complacent. But these Railers did not do that.

Sparked by “The Brady and Brody Show”—guards Brady Miller and Brody Tungate—along with some senior leadership from Gabe Smith, Lincoln got a boost to come back and tie the contest before the end of regulation. The Railers then outlasted the Kahoks. outscoring them 10-5 in the overtime period and coming away with a 54-49 victory.

The win sent Lincoln into the fifth-place game against Triad, who defeated the Railers 39-37. Lincoln had a chance to tie or win the game at the end of regulation, but Brody Tungate’s short jumper in the lane rolled off the rim and time expired.

The emergence of Miller and Tungate is a good sign for the Railers, as the team awaits the return of Karson Komnick and a healthy (or healthier) Drew Hayes.

In addition, Frank Sanders saw his first action since Game 1 of the season in returning from a nagging leg injury, and he responded by being named player of the game in Lincoln’s victory Friday over Mundelein.

While it is expected that all teams will deal with their share of injuries, losing 60 percent of the starting lineup all at once certainly makes it feel as if Lincoln has had more than its share.

“I think you can see how good we can be,” said Railer head coach Neil Alexander. “I’ve never had a year like this year like we’ve had with the injury bug. We have yet to practice with a full team this whole year.

“We’ve just got to try to get through it and see if we can get healthy and make the [postseason] run that we want to make.”

Lincoln will have another week to mend its wounds before its next contest. Lincoln’s next contest is January 4 at home against Rockford East. The nonconference game comes before a stretch of three consecutive Central State 8 games for the Railers.

[Loyd Kirby | WLCN 96.3]