|
 Seniors Garrett Aeilts and Aron Hopp sank four free throws in the
game’s final 43 seconds to preserve a 52-47 win over the Chargers
from Champaign Centennial on Monday night. For a team looking to
three-peat in the Eaton Electrical Round Robin Tournament, the win
featured just enough from a mostly inexperienced squad to narrowly
escape with the win.
The last four times the Railers have played the Chargers in the
opening week of the season, the game has been decided by single
digits so it was no surprise for the final margin to only be five
points. In typical Railer fashion, Lincoln hit eight three-pointers
and was a perfect eight of eight from the free throw line. For an
opener, it was a game that featured a lot.
Yet, in the end, it was a game that may have been decided by words
not actions.
After not playing the first half, Centennial’s Quin Nottingham took
over in the second half and gave the Chargers a spark that was
missing in the first half. After Lincoln’s KJ Fry hit a
three-pointer followed up by an immediate steal and layup, the
Railer lead had ballooned to 33-19 early in the third quarter.
That’s when Nottingham took over, leading Centennial on an 8-0 run
to cut the Lincoln lead to only six. After Bryson Kirby drained a
three with 1:38 to push the margin back to nine, Nottingham and Matt
Davis continued to attack the Railers. The duo scored all 15 points
for Centennial in the third quarter, concluding with Nottingham’s
pull-up near the lane to bring the margin to eight at 40-32.
Hopp drove past his defender on the left side of the lane to start
the fourth quarter and that’s when things starting going bad for
Lincoln. A 13-0 run fueled by two threes from Davis, a set of three
free throws by Nottingham and, with 5:11 left, a layup from Davis,
put Centennial in front for the first time since10-8. Julian Hess‘
basket ended the run and the 14 point lead from earlier in the game
had disappeared into a 45-42 lead for Centennial. A drive from
Isaiah Bowers, the night’s leading scorer for Lincoln with 14, cut
the lead to one.
On the next possession, Nottingham was called for travelling. In
demonstrating his displeasure for the call, some thing or things
were said that was noticed by the official. A technical foul was
called and Nottingham went to the bench where he stayed for the
remainder of the game. Had he stayed in, he may have been enough to
give the Chargers the win. As it is, Hopp stepped to the line and
made both free throws to put Lincoln back in front 46-45. After a
basket from Hess put the visitors back up by one, the Railers scored
the game’s final six points including a driving layup from Bowers
after a fake and the free throws from Aeilts with 43 seconds to go
and Hopp’s two with 1.9 left on the clock.
“Any win is a good win for this team,” Lincoln coach Neil Alexander
said after the game. “I thought they handled the pressure of the
game well and came up with some key turnovers.”
Even though the players were different, Railer fans will recognize
the style of play. Lincoln took most of their first quarter shots
from behind the arc with Bowers hitting the first shot of the season
for three. After Centennial took a 5-3 lead, Hopp hit on a pull-up
from 17 feet to tie the game. A second 5-0 run for the Chargers gave
them the advantage at 10-5. As time ran down in the quarter, the
Railers ran a play for junior Nolan Hullinger, who connected from
the left corner from three point range to pull Lincoln within 10-8
at the end of the first quarter.
[to top of second column] |
The Railers have always been very good at finding the hot hand so it
was no surprise Lincoln’s first make of the second quarter also came
from Hullinger, this one from the top of key, to give the Railers an
11-10 lead. After Centennial cut the game back to 13-12, Lincoln
again flexed their three point muscles with their next three baskets
being from long range as Fry hit a pair from deep and Bowers
connected on the second of his night to give the Railers a 22-16
lead.
Just like the end of the game belonged to the seniors Hopp and
Aeilts, so did the end of the first half. Aeilts had an open look at
a three, but took one dribble and a peek over his shoulder to make
sure he was clear and made a 17 footer. With 1.4 seconds left, Hopp
hit a pair of free throws and it looked like Lincoln would take a
26-17 lead to the locker room. But, the quick feet and hands of
Aeilts changed all that. A careless inbounds pass was intercepted by
Aeilts who hit a fade away jumper to extend the lead to eleven and
send the Railers into halftime with some energy.
For the first game, there were a lot of good things, but also areas
that can be worked on. The Railers did find themselves in a number
of scoring droughts, going 2-3 minutes with no scoring or offensive
rhythm and, as Coach Alexander said,” our execution was sloppy, but
that is something that will improve.” It will be fun to watch how
this team gels and changes over the next four months.
Bowers led three Railers in double figures with 14 points, while
Hopp scored 12 and Fry added 11. Aeitls and Hullinger each scored
six, while Kirby finished with three.
After taking tonight off, the Railers will continue in the Eaton
Electrical Round Robin Tournament tonight against Mahomet-Seymour.
Game time is set for 7:30 and the Railers may have a bit of payback
in mind as the Bulldogs were the only team to beat the Railers
during last year’s event.
LINCOLN (52)
Bowers 6 0-0 14, Hopp 3 6-6 12, Fry 4 0-0 11, Aeilts 2 2-2 6,
Hullinger 2 0-0 6, Kirby 1 0-0 3, Bacon 0 0-0 0. TEAM 18 8-8 52. 3pt
FG 8 (Fry 3, Hullinger 2, Bowers 2, Kirby).
CENTENNIAL (47)
Nottingham 5 3-4 14, Davis 5 0-0 12, Hess 4 0-0 8, Hemsouvanh 2 0-0
6, Jo.Williams 2 0-0 4, Evans 1 0-0 2, Roberts-Thomas 0 1-2 1. TEAM
19 4-6 47. 3pt FG 5 (Davis 2, Hemsouvanh 2, Nottingham).
LCHS 8-20-12-12 52
CENTENNIAL 10-7-15-15 47
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