Railer boys basketball squad starts strong but falls to Rock Island, 35-29

 

[January 23, 2024]  Rock Island – A popular sport adage states, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”

Unfortunately for the Railer boys basketball team, the Railers learned that the hard way after holding Rock Island scoreless for the first quarter but ultimately falling to the Rocks 35-29.

Lincoln pitched a shutout in the first stanza, holding Rock Island scoreless but only managing 7 points of their own. Karson Komnick opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, Drew Hayes notched a field goal and Ki’on Carson sank a pair of free throws to put Lincoln up 7-0.

Karson Komnick

Rock Island outscored Lincoln 26-11 in the next two periods, aided by a pair of last-second baskets: a 3-pointer by Larry Olivier, Jr. just before halftime and a rebound basket Dezmund Jackson to end the third quarter.

Lincoln led the entire first half and held a 13-12 halftime advantage, but when Dvonte Cartwright hit a short jumper in the lane to open the second half scoring, the Rocks took their first lead at 14-13 and never trailed again. The Rocks held a 26-18 lead after three quarters, but Lincoln would rally in the final period.

Komnick hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to cut the lead to five. KJ Lamonte scored on a traditional 3-point play to extend the lead back to eight points before Trey Schilling hit a field goal and Aidan Gowin nailed a long 3-pointer to bring the Railers to within 3 points at 29-26. Lamonte sank a pair of free throws for Rock Island before Hayes converted a 3-point play to pull the Railers to within 2 points at 31-29 with 26 second remaining.

The Rocks made 4 of 6 free throws in the remainder of the fourth quarter to ice the win for Rock Island, 35-29.

Although disappointed with a loss, LCHS coach Neil Alexander was proud of the effort from his team against Rock Island, a Class 4A school.

Coach Neil Alexander

“If you go back and look, we fought hard,” Alexander said. “We were down by eight with five minutes to go, and we got it down to two and had the ball. At that point, we’d planned on going for the win. There were 40 seconds or so left, but you’ve got to be able to get the ball in bounds, and we didn’t get it done.”

Although Lincoln’s win-loss record may suffer from losses to Class 4A teams such as Rock Island, Alexander said games against Class 4A opponents help the Railers no matter the outcome.

“It’s great playing great pressure, because we can’t do that in our practices,” he said. “This is the way you have to come and get it and it really
makes us better.”

Drew Hayes

Hayes and Komnick led Lincoln with 9 points each. Schilling and Carson added 4 points each and Gowin chipped in with 3.

Lamonte led all scorers with 13 points for Rock Island, which improved to 16-6 with the victory.

The loss dropped Lincoln’s record to 15-7. It was the second straight week for the Railers of playing games on back-to-back days on Fridays and Saturdays. Last week, the Railers won an exciting contest at Lanphier on Friday before falling to Class 4A Quincy on Saturday. This week, Lincoln defeated U-High in a key Central State 8 matchup Friday night before losing to the Rocks the following evening.

“We’ve just got to continue to work to get better,” Alexander said. “But again, playing this type of competition helps us, and we’ve got to be able to handle those things.”

The upcoming schedule is no more forgiving as Lincoln has non-conference contests with Jacksonville, Mattoon and Taylorville. When CS8 schools face each other twice in a season, only the first game counts in the conference standings; Lincoln played Jacksonville on December 8, falling to the Crimsons 51-43.

“Tuesday [against Jacksonville] is a key game for us,” Alexander said. “In the sectional complex, Jacksonville did beat us; I think they’re the only team that’s beaten us. It’s great for us that we get the opportunity to avenge that loss, but we’ve got to do it on their court. So Tuesday night will be a big game.”

The game at Jacksonville is scheduled to begin at 7 PM. The Railers host Mattoon on Friday (January 26) at 7:30 PM and play at Taylorville on Saturday (January 27) in a 4:30 PM contest.

[Loyd Kirby]