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 Just a few seconds of game time earlier, Lanphier’s Xavier Bishop
completed a three point play after being fouled with 6.4 seconds
remaining to put the Lions on top by one. Bishop made a living at
the line during the fourth quarter, making eight of nine, as it
seemed every trip he made inside the lane resulted in more free
throws for Lanphier. There seems to be a school of thought that
officials do not want to make a call late in the game that proves to
be the deciding factor. But, can it not be said that if a call is
not made that should be, doesn’t that have the same result as being
a deciding factor? No matter how the different sets of eyes saw the
play, it still is another close loss for the Railers.
A very vocal Railer Nation in attendance voiced their displeasure as
they watched Lincoln drop to 7-8 in the Central State Eight while
moving to 14-12 overall, with both losses to Lanphier being by a
combined four points.
“We had our chances, but we missed some free throws and had some
turnovers,” Lincoln coach Neil Alexander said after the game. “We
have to take better care of the ball.”
On the stat sheet, the Railers did about all they could, shooting 60
percent for the game, including 53 percent from three point range.
Lincoln did commit 15 turnovers, but against the pressure defense of
Lanphier, that is nothing to be ashamed of. The Railers outscored
the Lions in the paint 20-18 and were only outrebounded by five on
the night. In the end, it was too much Bishop.
It was a game that see-sawed during the fourth quarter with five
lead changes and felt like one of those classic Lincoln-Lanphier
games. Make no mistake, the ending will only add to the lore.
After weathering a 9-0 run during the third quarter that put
Lanphier back up 37-36, the Railers fought back to take a 40-39 lead
into the fourth thanks to a driving layup by Hopp. The run for
Lincoln continued with Ben Grunder and Isaiah Bowers scoring on
layups to put ther Railers up 44-39. A Bishop score pulled the Lions
within 44-41, but Bowers scored again to stretch the lead back to
five. Difficulty handling the basketball may have ultimately been
Lincoln’s downfall as turnover after turnover fueled runs in the
game, and a quick 6-0 put Lanphier back up 47-46.
A score from Hopp put the Railers back in the lead at 48-47, but it
would be Lincoln’s final field goal of the game. After Bowers split
two free throws, Bishop tied the game at 49. Bowers then gave the
lead back to the Railers with two free throws and when Bishop only
made one of two the next time down, Lincoln had the lead 51-50. With
1:08, KJ Fry, who hit four more threes on the evening, hit two free
throws and, after a Lanphier turnover, 27 seconds later, it was Hopp
hitting two to push the margin back to five at 55-50.
Aundrae Williams stepped to the line to bring Lanphier with three
while the Lincoln senior parade at the line continued with Garrett
Aeilts draining two with 30.9 to go and Lincoln now up 57-52. Bishop
then took control by hitting a step back, well-defended three
pointer near the right sideline to bring the Lions within a pair
with 24.3 seconds to go. As the Railers tried to work the ball into
the front court, another mishandle occurred and after the ball came
loose, players from both teams ended up in a scrum trying to corral
the ball. With 15.2 seconds to go, a held ball was called with the
arrow pointing Lanphier’s way.
[to top of second column] |
After the inbounds, as time wound down, you knew it would go to
Bishop and you knew he would drive to the basket because it seemed
every time he drove in the fourth he ended up at the line. Sure
enough, Bishop headed to the basket, threw it off the glass and was
fouled with 6.4 seconds to go. Bishop made the free throw to give
the Lions the one point lead. After a Lincoln timeout, the ball was
inbounded to Hopp, who drove through the Lanphier defense, but his
shot never got to the rim after some contact but no whistle. There
was no question how the Railer bench and fans felt about the no
call.
The Lincoln effort was good all night, but they found themselves in
early trouble when they fell behind 9-5 in the first while Hopp
picked up his second foul with 2:56 to go in the first. With Hopp on
the bench, Bowers scored Lincoln’s next five on the way to a season
high 23 points. The Railers kept confident by taking the lead at the
end of the quarter as Fry hit a three to put Lincoln up 13-11.
The Railers continued to play well, going out to a 18-13 lead.
However, turnovers turned the game quickly as Lanphier ran off six
in a row quicker than you could blink. With the Railers down 21-20,
Lincoln went to old reliable, the three point shot. A pair of threes
from Fry with Bowers and Grunder hitting from long range, led the
Railers to a 32-26 lead. Grunder’s three came with 3.6 seconds and
the Railers caught a break when Lanphier headed down court, but
forgot to take the ball out and was called for a violation. Lincoln
took advantage with just over a second to go when the inbounds lob
pass found Bowers open and the sophomore caught and shot before time
expired as Lincoln took a 34-26 lead at halftime.
Before the season is over, the Railers, with this kind of effort,
are going to beat someone that no one expects them to beat. Keep
this in mind. On Wednesday, the voting for IHSA seeds will be
completed with the seeds released on Thursday and the brackets on
Friday. Roy S. Anderson will play host to one of the regionals in
the Taylorville sub-sectional. There is a team out there that will
smile at the prospect of facing a Lincoln team that is not as feared
as in years past. Yet, that same team will see their season end as
the Railers knock off a favored team.
On Tuesday, Bowers led the way with 23 points while Fry added 14.
Hopp scored eight with Grunder adding seven and Aeilts scoring five.
The Railers have another conference matchup on Friday as Lincoln
travels to Decatur to take on Eisenhower. Lincoln beat the Panthers
47-39 January 23rd. Game time is set for 7:30pm with the sophomores
leading off the night at 6:00pm.
LINCOLN (57)
Bowers 8-12 5-10 23, Fry 4-7 2-2 14, Hopp 2-4 4-4 8, Grunder 3-3 0-0
6, Aeilts 1-4 2-2 5, Kirby 0-0 0-0 0. TEAM 18-30 13-18 57. 3pt FG
8-15 (Fry 4-7, Bowers 2-3, Grunder 1-1, Aeilts 1-3, Hopp 0-1).
Rebounds 12, Turnovers 15, Assists 12.
LANPHIER (58)
Bishop 8-17 12-14 31, McGee 3-6 4-4 10, Williams 2-4 6-7 10, Jones
2-2 0-0 4, Boles 1-2 1-2 3. TEAM 16-31 23-27 58. 3pf FG 3-13 (Bishop
3-10, McGee 0-1, Williams 0-2). Rebounds 17, Turnovers 9, Assists 5.
LCHS 13-21-6-17 57
LANPHIER 11-15-13-19 58
[Jeff Benjamin] |
