Railers get W-I-N over S-H-G

[February 13, 2016]  With only two weeks left in the regular season, the Lincoln Railers are doing everything they can to stay at or above .500 in the Central State Eight. On Friday night, the Railers were able to get back to break even with a 50-35 win over the Cyclones from SHG. With the win, Lincoln is now 14-10 on the season with a 7-7 mark in conference. There are only four games to go in the CS8, but needing to go 2-2 over that stretch to stay above water will be a challenge with games against Lanphier, Southeast and Glenwood still on the docket. But, before we look too far ahead, the Railers did a lot of good things to notch the victory at Jim Belz Gymnasium.

At least in the second half.

“We didn’t play well over the first 16 minutes,” Lincoln coach Neil Alexander said. “We let the shooters set and get good looks, we didn’t get the ball inside, just not a good half.”

The Railers used a 22-4 second half run to finally get on track and keep the Cyclones at only one conference win on the season. Time and time again, when the Railers needed a big shot on Friday night, it came from senior KJ Fry. Fry hits six three pointers on the evening to lead the way with 18 points. “I thought KJ shot exceptionally well,” Alexander said. “When he gets his rhythm and his teammates find him, he can take over a game.”

Lincoln got off to a strong start on threes from Fry and Garrett Aeilts. Aeilts had not hit a three in his previous three games, but got back on track with his second of the night to push the Lincoln lead to 9-2. The Railers did a good job all night against SHG senior Albert Okwuegunam. The first three times he touched the ball resulted in turnovers, all thanks to the defense executing the game plan.

“Our first goal with him was to push him about three feet off the block,” Alexander said. “When you do that, you push him more to the perimeter and then those players can drop down and help out.” The Cyclones’ leading scorer was held to just seven points, all in the second half. The Lincoln defense allowed the Railers to enjoy a 9-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.

SHG got off to a good start in the second quarter on a basket from Nick Broeker and a three from Jack O’Connor to knot the game at 10. Fry put Lincoln back up by three but was quickly answered by a three from Tim Brenneisen. After sophomore Isaiah Bowers hit a pair of free throws to put Lincoln up 15-13, another three, this one from Vince Vespa, gave SHG their first lead of the night with 1:21 left in the half. Defensively, SHG did a good job on Lincoln’s top scorers. Entering the contest, Bowers and senior Aron Hopp combined to average 24 points a game, but the duo was held to three points on free throws.

The end of the half turned worse when SHG worked the clock down to find O’Connor open for another three and the Cyclones, who lost by 27 to the Railers earlier in the season, would take a four point lead into intermission. For the Railers to find a spark, the halftime speech from Coach Alexander would have to hit the mark. “It was one of my better ones. I don’t think any of them wanted to come in there with me,” Alexander said.

After making only threes and free throws while missing all five of their two-point attempts, Lincoln focused on getting the ball inside. The Railers connected on their first two point field goal with 6:30 to go in the third when Bowers found an open Ben Grunder for a shot off the block. The score started a quick seven point burst that saw Fry hit another three and then Fry tossed an alley-oop lob to Hopp to put the guests up 22-19. A three point play from the played affectionately known as “Albert O’ tied the game at 22, but it was more inside scoring from Hopp and Bowers to give Lincoln a 26-22 advantage.

The Cyclones (3-19, 1-13) pulled within 26-24 near the end of the third quarter, but the Railers were about to take control of the game. As Lincoln ran down the clock at the end of the third quarter, Hopp connected on only his third three of the season, a jumper from the top of the key with one second remaining to give Lincoln a five point lead. The lead quickly grew as Lincoln took the first possession of the fourth quarter and saw Fry knock another three and the margin had grown to eight at 32-24.

The run continued with a steal and layup from Bowers to grow the Lincoln lead to 36-24. Albert O pulled the Cyclones within ten at 36-26, only to see Fry hit two more threes sandwiched around a basket from Hopp and as quickly as you could remember the Railers being down at the half, their lead had grown to 44-26. After a score from Bowers, the Railers went 4-4 at the line from Hopp and Nolan Hullinger to seal the win.

As noted, Fry led with 18 points with Hopp (12) and Bowers (10) joining him in double figures. Aeilts added his six first quarter points with Grunder and Hullinger adding two. Lincoln did not have many attempts at the free throw line, going 7-8, but their shooting allowed them to stay at 80 percent as a team.

The Railers are back in action Saturday night for their final home regular season non-conference matchup as the Wildcats from Normal West invade Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium. Varsity tip time is scheduled for 6:30pm with the sophomores getting the action started at 5. As much as Coach Alexander prefers all the attention be on the team and players, a milestone is just around the corner for him. The next Lincoln win will give him 600 wins as coach at Lincoln. The mark could be reached as early as tonight. Don’t miss a chance to see history at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium.

LINCOLN (50)

Fry 6 0-0 18, Hopp 4 3-4 12, Bowers 4 2-2 10, Aeilts 2 0-0 6, Grunder 1 0-0 2, Hullinger 0 2-2 2, Kirby 0 0-0 0, Biggs 0 0-0 0. TEAM 17 7-8 50. 3pt FG 9 (Fry 6, Aeilts 2, Hopp).

SHG (35)

Vespa 9, O’Connor 8, Okwuegbunam 7, Brenneisen 6, Broeker 5. TEAM 13 2-3 35. 3pt FG 7 (Vespa 3, O’Connor 2, Brenneisen 2).

LCHS 9-6-14-21 50
SHG 5-14-5-11 35

[Jeff Benjamin]