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 The folks that made the trip down south to see Lincoln capture
the championship at the Schnucks Holiday Classic were treated to a
very familiar sight on Saturday as the Railers cruised to a 52-31
win over the host Wildcats. Lincoln has now won eight in a row,
winning those games by an average of over 17 points a contest.
Senior Gavin Block led a trio of Railers in double figures as
Lincoln improved to 12-2 on the season and prepares to jump back
into conference play next week. Block’s 19 points left him one point
shy of 1,300 in his career as he continues to climb the all-time
lists.
The Railers continued their crisp passing which led to open shots,
resulting in 60 percent shooting on the night (21 of 35) while
Normal West could not find any type of offensive rhythm. If you have
not seen this team, find a way to make some room on your calendar to
visit Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
As for Saturday night, let me just say, I hope we don’t start taking
this team for granted. The level this team is playing at is right
where they would want to be as we start the new year. “I think this
team is starting to find its identity on how they want to play,”
Coach Neil Alexander said after the game. “With the rotations and
everything, everyone is finding their place.”
 After Richard Simpkins put West on the board first with a
three-pointer, Will Cook continued his locked in shooting with a
three to knot the game. Simpkins, who scored the first ten points of
the game for Normal West, put the Wildcats up 5-3 off an offensive
rebound. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but it would be the
last lead of the night for Normal. Block scored seven in a row to
put Lincoln up 10-5 by hitting a three pointer, scoring on an
alley-oop lob from Jordan Perry, and then converting a steal into a
layup. The recently named MVP from Collinsville was not going to let
the award weigh down his game.
Another Simpkins basket brought Normal to within three but Block hit
for three again to put Lincoln up 13-7. His tenth point of the night
completed a rather impressive run as, in the first quarter, he
passed Brian Cook, Brandon Farmer, and Josh Komnick on the all-time
scoring list. How would you like that grouping in a three-on-three
tourney? The quarter ended with the Railers running the clock down
and finding Cook, who hit a three with about five seconds to go to
extend Lincoln’s lead to 16-7 at the end of one.
Isaiah Bowers started the scoring in the second quarter after Block
dropped off a nice pass in the lane and the freshman took a quick
dribble to get a better look at a shot. His contributions may
continue as the season moves on. “Isaiah is really starting to
understand things, where he needs to be and such,” Alexander said.
“He has really impressed.”
Normal West, although seemingly unorganized, continued to stay close
thanks to Simpkins. A couple of scores from the Wildcats pulled them
within six at 18-12. A ten footer on the baseline from Cook followed
by another three by Cook started a 9-0 run that would bleed over
into the second half, but as the teams went to the locker room,
Lincoln held a 23-12 advantage.
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The run continued as Block hit two of three free throws and a tip
away, steal, and layup by Payton Ebelherr extended the lead to 27-12
forcing West coach Brian Cupples to call a timeout at the 6:50 mark
of the third quarter. It was a running theme throughout the night as
the Railers scored 20 points off of the 15 turnovers committed by
the Wildcats. Simpkins finally stopped the run with a three-pointer
but that only allowed Lincoln to begin another run. Block scored
inside on a nice pass from Ebelherr, one of six assists for the
Lincoln point guard. Cook then made the steal and drove down the
sideline with a Wildcat hanging on him the entire way but not enough
of a deterrent to keep him from scoring. Bowers, who reached double
figures for the first time, scored again underneath. It felt as
though Bowers took the place of Edward Bowlby the past two seasons.
It always seemed that Bowlby, now at Lincoln College, made a living
roaming the baseline against Normal West. Another timeout from West
at the 3:28 mark may have been the beginning of the white flag
waving as the answers the Wildcats were looking for did not seem to
be coming anytime soon.
As the Lincoln lead grew to 36-22, the three-point shooting for the
night was done and the Railers concentrated on scoring on the
inside. Baskets from Bowers, Cook, and Aron Hopp pushed the lead to
over 20 for the first time at 44-22. Block finished off his night
with a finger roll layup and then a drive to the basket which saw
him turn in the air and drop the pass off to Cook who was cutting to
the basket.
Again, more of the same we saw in Collinsville. And that is
definitely a good thing. Not a bad way to celebrate Coach
Alexander’s 750th game as coach of the Lincoln Railers. No better
way than with defense as Normal West was held to 33 percent shooting
for the game, and only 19 percent from three-point range. I suppose
the best way to describe the game is a very Railer-like workman
effort. Everything they wanted to do, they did and kept the Wildcats
from doing what they wanted.
Block’s 19 led the way, the 38th consecutive game he has scored 9 or
more points. Cook added 17 points while Bowers chipped in with 10.
Hopp scored four with Ebelherr hitting for two.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Railers as they are back to
school on Monday and back on the court on Tuesday as the Spartans
from Southeast will visit Lincoln in a mid-week contest. The varsity
game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 with the sophomores tipping off
at 6:00pm.
LINCOLN (52)
Block 7-11 2-3 19, Cook 7-11 0-0 17, Bowers 4-5 2-2 10, Hopp 2-5 0-0
4, Ebelherr 1-1 0-0 2, Perry 0-1 0-0 0, Aeilts 0-1 0-0 0, Fry 0-0
0-0 0, Biggs 0-0 0-0 0. TEAM 21-35 4-5 52. 3 point FG 6-15 (Block
3-6, Cook 3-7, Perry 0-1, Aeilts 0-1). Rebounds 16, Assists 15,
Turnovers 4.
NORMAL WEST (31)
Simpkins 17, Beal 5, Zobrist 3, Wilson-Poston 2, Robinson 2, Stork
2. TEAM 11-33 6-8 31. 3 point FG 3 (Simpkins 2, Beal). Rebounds 21,
Assists 6, Turnovers 13.
LCHS 16-7-17-12 52
NWCHS 7-5-10-9 31
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