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Now, you would think that if Lincoln coach Neil Alexander was pleased
about Monday's 12-point win over Belleville Althoff, then a 23-point
win over coach Tim Lavin's Chargers would get him all ready for a
relaxing Thanksgiving meal. Well, you would be wrong. Coach
Alexander addressed his concerns at the beginning of his postgame
comments, saying, "I don't think we played as hard as we could have
tonight." Alexander continued, "We just had too many guys out of
position, and we didn't play as well as we did on Monday night."
So, did the Railers get lucky? No, they did enough to get to a
comfortable lead, but there were a number of areas the coach had concerns about. "We didn't practice last night, and tonight, we
played like it," Alexander said.
Defensively, the Railers held Centennial to single-digit scoring in
three quarters and did not allow a 3-pointer (Centennial 0 for
12 beyond the arc). In the second half, Centennial managed only five
made field goals and shot 39 percent for the game.
The game began just like Monday's game with teams trading leads and
playing close. Midway through the first quarter, Lincoln would go on
a run to take a lead they would not relinquish. The Railers (2-0)
again relied on inside scoring to put up most of the first-quarter
scoring. Nathaniel Smith scored four of the first six points for
Lincoln and Jordan Nelson's basket put the Railers up for good at
8-7. The buckets by Smith and Nelson started a 23-6 run that saw
Centennial turning the ball over, pointing fingers at each other
and laying blame on their teammates. If there was blame, it was most
likely thanks to Lincoln's shooting and defense. Centennial coach
Tim Lavin was forced to call two timeouts to try to settle his team
down, but this was a game in which the Railers would not be denied.
One area that is always a concern for the Railers is rebounding.
There will not be many games this season in which the Railers will
win the battle of the boards. On Monday night, Centennial's Corvon
Butler had 26 points and 14 rebounds against Danville. Those are the
type of numbers that would worry any Railer fan. On Wednesday night,
Butler was held in check with only nine points and five rebounds.
For the game, Lincoln was only outrebounded by five (23-18), a major factor in
the Railers' win.
Although he was not the leading scorer in the first quarter, early
in the contest Smith was the engine that made the
Lincoln motor run. He scored six in the quarter, but he also seemed to
be in the right spot at the right time, both on offense and defense.
The senior's ability to grab the loose ball, tip errant passes and
get needed rebounds allowed Lincoln to sustain the first-half run.
In fact, his play was the type that makes you think his stats should have been bigger,
because he seemed to be everywhere. Smith
finished with 11 points and six rebounds, although most at the
broadcast position were thinking he clearly had a double-double.
For the second night in a row, and probably not the last time this
season, Nelson led the way with 28 points on 10-of-15
shooting, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. The senior, who
continues to climb up the scoring list, hit three from well behind
the line as well as scoring on drives to the basket by defenders who
thought his only weapon was the 3-point shot. Nelson also had four
assists and scored Lincoln's final nine points. Late in the game,
Nelson did get up slowly after driving down the lane. He was able to
stay in the contest but seemed to be favoring his lower leg.
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One player that Alexander praised was junior Jake Olson. "I
thought Jake played a great game," the coach said. "He really took
advantage of his opportunity tonight." Olson scored a career-high
six
points on two 3-pointers after being called on early due to foul
trouble from starter Jordan Gesner.
The scoring was not as balanced as Monday night, when four players
were in double figures. On Wednesday, Nelson and Smith were the only players above 10,
with Olson and Kirby scoring six. Christian Van Hook tallied four
while Brant Coyne scored an early 3. Although he didn't score
much, a key part of Coyne's contribution was positioning himself
offensively to keep Centennial's 6-foot-8 Josh Piper away from the basket
defensively.
Lincoln did bring their shooting eyes, hitting 54 percent from the
field, including 11 of 24 from long range.
After a well-deserved day off for Thanksgiving, the Railers are back
in action Friday night at 8:30, taking on Morton. The Potters are
also 2-0, staying perfect with a 61-39 win over Danville. The other
contest saw Cahokia surprise Belleville Althoff 69-63. After two
games, the tournament standings show Lincoln 2-0, Morton 2-0,
Centennial 1-1, Cahokia 1-1, Danville 0-2 and Belleville Althoff 0-2.
___ LINCOLN (58)
Nelson 10 3-3 28, Smith 5 0-2 11, Kirby 2 0-0 6, Olson 2 0-0 6, Van
Hook 2 0-0 4, Coyne 1 0-0 3, Gesner 0 0-0 0, Hays 0 0-0 0, Krusz 0
0-0 0. Team 22 3-5 58.
3-point field goals 11 (Nelson 5, Kirby 2,
Olson 2, Smith 1, Coyne 1).
Centennial (35)
Piper 4 6-6 14, Butler 4 1-1 9, Kinney 3 0-0 6, Alexander 1 1-2 3,
Richter-Shea 1 0-0 2, LeShoure 0 1-2 1. Team 13 9-11 35.
Score by quarters: LINCOLN 16-13-15-14 58
Centennial 9-10-7-9 35
[By JEFF BENJAMIN]
Jeff Benjamin's Railer basketball articles
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