Lincoln beats Belleville East 47-35
to capture 5th place in Collinsville Holiday tourney
[December 30, 2025]
COLLINSVILLE – All-tournament selection Karson Komnick scored
17 points and the Railer boys basketball team captured fifth place
in the Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic Tournament by
defeating Belleville East, 47-35.
Lincoln head coach Neil Alexander and his team had a goal of
finishing the tournament with no worse than a 3-1 record. The
Railers won their opening game against Granite City on Friday night,
then split games on Saturday in losing to Decatur MacArthur before
defeating Collinsville in overtime. Lincoln then won its game on
Sunday against Belleville East to finish with a 3-1 mark in the
tournament and take home the fifth place trophy.
Head Coach Neil Alexander
“We had our spells,” Alexander said after the contest of his team.
“They play together. They’re playing hard. We’ve still got a long
way to go but when they get everybody back and healthy, hopefully
it’ll be another improvement that will help us out.”
The Railers sprinted out to a 7-0 behind a field goal from Brody
Tungate, a three-pointer from Tate Aue and a field goal from Komnick.
The Railers outscored Collinsville 12-4 overall in the opening
quarter.
Belleville East increased its intensity on defense in the second
period and caused Lincoln some problems. However, sometimes the
Railers were able to take advantage and use the Lancers’
aggressiveness against them on backdoor cuts to the basket.
Belleville East knotted the score 17-17 near the end of the second
period before Komnick hit a three-pointer 40 seconds left to give
Lincoln a 20-17 lead. Belleville East got a late basket from Kameron
Eutsey to make it a one-point game with LCHS leading 20-19 at
intermission.
In the third quarter, Lincoln finally hit its stride on offense. The
Railers got scores from four different players as LCHS outscored
Belleville East 19-8 in the period to take a 39-27 lead heading into
the final quarter.
The teams matched each other in the final period. Each squad scored
eight points to maintain the 12-point margin for the Railers, and
Lincoln defeated Belleville East 47-35.
Karson Komnick
In addition to Komnick’s game-high 17 points, the Railers got 14
points from Tungate and 12 from Aue. Bryce Vlahovich and Hunter
Clark each scored two points for Lincoln.
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Belleville East was led by Eutsey with 12 points.
After averaging about 33 percent on field goals in its first three
games of the tournament, Lincoln had its best game from the field,
shooting at a 50 percent (19 of 38) clip. The Railers also had their
best game of the tournament from beyond the arc against Belleville
East, making seven of 16 (43.8 percent) on three pointers. LCHS had
shot treys at a 26.8 percent rate in its prior three tournament
games.
Lincoln also rebounded well against the Lancers, outrebounding
Belleville East 23-22. Aue and Komnick led the Railers with five
rebounds each.
Komnick was named to the all-tournament team. In Lincoln’s four
games, the Railer senior averaged 17.5 points per game and 7
rebounds per contest. Komnick made 22 of 54 field goal attempts
(40.7 percent) and he shot 85.2 percent (23 of 27) from the free
throw line. Included in those performances were a perfect 11-of-11
night on free throws against Collinsville. In that game against the
host school, Komnick accounted for 69 percent of Lincoln’s scoring
against Collinsville, tallying 29 of the Railers’ 42 points in the
game.
In addition to Komnick, other players recognized for their
performances in the tournament include tournament MVP Khymir Carson
of tourney champion Decatur MacArthur, along with members of the
all-tournament team: Sean Lee, MacArthur; Tishawn Clemmons,
MacArthur; Terry Cornell, McCluer North (MO); Cale Maurer, Mt.
Vernon; David Barnes, Mt. Vernon; Ben Akoro, O'Fallon; Evan
Longmeyer, Pattonville (MO); Lucas Thompson, Triad; and Tyler
Thompson, Triad.
After going 3-1 in the tournament, Lincoln’s overall record is
12-3.Belleville East falls to 8-5 with the loss.
The games in the Collinsville tournament were the Railers’ last
games of 2025. The next scheduled contest for Lincoln are:
• Tue 1/6/2026 @ 7 PM vs. Decatur Eisenhower*
• Fri 1/9/2026 @ 7 PM vs. Springfield Lanphier*
• Sat 1/10/2026 @ 7:30 PM vs. LaSalette Academy
The games against Eisenhower and Lanphier are Central State 8
Conference games.
[Loyd Kirby]
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