Springfield rebounds to end Railer
season as Lincoln loses 32-26 in regional finals
[February 28, 2026]
LINCOLN – An Achilles’ heel for the Railer basketball team
this season has been rebounding. LCHS head coach Neil Alexander has
mentioned after several of the team’s recent games how the Railers
need to do a better job rebounding.
Unfortunately, it may have been a rebound that was the beginning of
the end of the Railers’ season Friday night.
The Railers and Senators played a closely contested game throughout
the evening. Lincoln trailed by six heading into the final quarter,
but Lincoln fought back to tie the game 24-all with just under five
minutes remaining. But LCHS allowed Springfield to grab four
offensive rebounds in the final five minutes of the contest, and
those proved to be costly as the Senators went on to win 32-26 and
end Lincoln’s season.
Head Coach Neil Alexander
“They hurt us on second points,” Alexander said. “We did what we
wanted and forced them to miss shots. The big thing—and it’s written
big on the board in the locker room—is that you have to rebound.
They were really tough and they really made it hard on us to get
something done.”
The Senators led 20-14 going into the fourth quarter, but Lincoln
roared back by going on an 8-2 run to open the final stanza. Seniors
Karson Komnick and Brody Tungate each hit three pointers to bookend
a Springfield field goal as the Senators maintained a 22-20
advantage. But Komnick added a field goal for Lincoln to tie the
score at 22-all. Arielle Robinson missed a shot for SHS, but he
grabbed his own rebound and hit the putback shot to give Springfield
a 24-22 lead. Komnick sank a pair of free throws after being fouled
to knot the score at 24-24.
The Railer defense got a stop on the next series, as the Senators
missed a field goal try. But SHS snared another offensive rebound,
this time from Mayango Jaliah, who hit the rebound shot to make it
26-24 in favor of the Senators.
LCHS came up empty on the next offensive possession, but Elijah Wade
missed a shot on the other end for Springfield. However, Wade
snagged the offensive rebound and hit the ensuing shot to stretch
the SHS lead to 28-24.
Lincoln failed to score on its next possession, and the Railers
fouled Logan Peach to give him a pair of free throw attempts. It
appeared to be a successful ploy, as Peach missed both foul shots.
However, the Railers couldn’t corral the rebound, and Peach
rebounded his own shot and was again fouled. This time, Peach hit
the two free throws he was awarded to push the Senator lead to
30-24.
[to top of second column] |
One possession later, Elijah Wade hit two free throws to extend
Springfield’s lead to 32-24. With time winding down, Preston Short
hit a field goal before the final buzzer, and Springfield advanced
in the postseason with a 32-26 victory.
Alexander said he thought the Peach play--where the SHS player
missed a pair of free throws but Lincoln couldn’t capitalize when
Peach grabbed his own rebound and then hit the next pair of free
throws he was awarded—was the straw that broke the Railers’ back, so
to speak.
“You’ve got to get a rebound,” Alexander said. “That’s one of my pet
peeves is rebounding at the free throw end. You have inside
position, and you don’t come up with it. You have to be intense when
you’re rebounding against a free throw, and sometimes—not just our
team, but there’s a lot of teams—that just relax and give up a lot
of second opportunities on the free throws.”
Things looked good initially in the game for the Railers, as Lincoln
jumped out to an early 4-0 lead when Bryce Vlahovich hit a quick
three-pointer just after play began and Karson Komnick added a free
throw a couple minutes later. But SHS went on a run of its own and
scored six consecutive points to lead 6-4 as the first quarter
neared the end. Komnick, however, made an alert play, as the Railer
senior intercepted an inbounds pass by the Senators and converted it
to a layup before the period ended, making the score 6-all heading
into the second frame.
Springfield outscored Lincoln 8-3 in the second quarter, which
turned out to be the largest margin in any quarter. SHS outscored
the Railers by one point in the third quarter, and the two teams
tied each other (6-6 and 12-12) in the opening and final quarters,
respectively.
The Senators snared 10 offensive rebounds and outrebounded the
Railers 22-13 in the game. Lincoln’s work on the boards had not been
a strength of the squad as of late, as the Railers were outrebounded
in seven of their last eight games prior to facing Springfield.
Komnick led the Railer attack with 15 points. Elijah Wade led
Springfield with 13 points.
The loss ends the Railers’ season with a 25-8 record overall.
Springfield improves to 21-12 on the year and moves on to face
Normal U-High in the Mahomet-Seymour sectional tournament Monday
night.
[Loyd Kirby]
|
