Lincoln drops one to Steelmen as offense struggles

[February 22, 2016]  by Jeff Benjamin

On the way to the Saturday night contest between the Lincoln Railers and the Steelmen from Joliet Central, we passed many items of note celebrating “Joliet” Jake and Elwood, better known to those of a certain generation as The Blues Brothers. Unfortunately, it was not Elwood and Jake, but the Railers feeling the blues after the 38-26 loss to Joliet Central. Whether it was the long week of basketball with three games, the long bus trip to Joliet, or something else, the Railers never seemed to get their offensive rhythm and watched Joliet Central never trail in the contest on their way to the win.

There are no excuses being sought here. There are times when it is OK to give credit to the other team and that’s exactly what Coach Neil Alexander said after the game. “That may be the best man-to-man defense we’ve played. They had us well scouted. But, there were some layups we missed early and that was part of the difference.”

Early on, it was tough to watch. Lincoln struggled on the offensive end. Aron Hopp got Lincoln on the board to tie the game at two, but someone put a lid on the rim after that while the Steelmen took advantage. The home team went on a 10-0 run to build a 12-2 lead. While the Railers were finding it difficult to even get a shot, Joliet Central was patient on offense and willing to wait for the best look. What also helped was their dominance on the glass. They were able to grab a number of offensive rebounds that they turned into points.

Isaiah Bowers, who scored a game high 15 points, finally stopped the bleeding with 5:00 to go in the second quarter to bring Lincoln to within 12-4. A basket from Jose Grubbs lifted Central back to a ten point lead at 14-4. It did not seem anything was going to go right for the Railers and they would be heading to intermission with only four points. But, finally, a crack in the Steelmen occurred just before the half. As the guards from Joliet Central tried to run down the clock looking for a last second shot, the ball was fumbled away and Bowers was able to bat and chase the ball downcourt, finally gaining control and laying it in as the halftime buzzer sounded. It may not sound like much but it was a positive the Railers were hoping to build on in the second half.

Alas, the half could not have started worse for the Railers as Central’s Treveon Ward scored and was fouled less than 30 seconds into the half and his three point play pushed the lead to 17-6. On Lincoln’s first possession, Hopp took the ball down the left side of the lane and was fouled. His two free throws pulled the Railers within 17-8 and also started Lincoln’s only energy on the offensive end.

Bowers was able to hit a three pointer, Lincoln’s first made three of the night which was followed by a lay in from Ben Grunder. With the Railers down 17-13, and Joliet Central missing shots and throwing the ball away, Garrett Aeilts stepped back and drained a three pointer to force Coach Jeff Corcoran into a timeout as Lincoln had climbed back to within one at 17-16. Whatever was said caught the attention of the Steelmen as Taquan Sims hit a three pointer while Marcilus Hornsby added a basket and Jalen Jones hit two free throws and as quickly as Lincoln had caught up, the Steelmen had gone back up 24-16. The deficit was back to eight, the same as halftime.

Lincoln (15-13) brought out more fight to start the fourth as Bowers scored on a layup off a back door pass from Hopp. The next trip saw Bowers convert an offensive rebound to bring the Railers within 24-20. After a score from Central, Hopp scored and the next trip down, Bowers was fouled and hit one of two free throws to cut the game to a one possession game at 26-23.

That’s when the quickness of Joliet Central took over. The Steelmen (15-10) ended the game on a 12-3 run fueled mostly by their ability to get inside at will and get every bounce, including one where two Railers were battling to pick up a loose ball only to see it batted to Malik Fuller who took the fortunate bounce and laid it in. “One of the issues we had tonight was that they got every loose ball. Every one,” Alexander said. “We’ve got to find a way to battle and get those.”

Bowers led the way, scoring over half of Lincoln’s points with 15. Hopp added six before fouling out, with Aeitls scoring three and Grunder chipping in with a pair.

It was not a good night for the Railers as they had their lowest offensive output of the season, but now their attention turns back to conference play with two games on tap for next week. The week starts on Tuesday as Lincoln will play their final regular season home game against Southeast. It will also be 8th grade and Senior night. The Railers will hope to provide some payback for a loss earlier in the season, a 46-30 defeat on January 5th. It is a Southeast team that could be on Lincoln’s doorstep during regional week. If Lincoln is able to get by Clinton in the first round, the Railers would end up playing the Spartans just eight days after their matchup this Tuesday.

The regular season is down to one week and Coach Alexander has always talked about teams playing their best at the end of the season. When asked if the Railers’ best basketball is still ahead of him, he responded, “I hope. It better be because the end is coming up so it’s now or never.”

Our first glimpse of that is Tuesday.

LINCOLN (26)

Bowers 6 2-4 15, Hopp 2 2-2 6, Aeilts 1 0-0 3, Grunder 1 0-0 2, Fry 0 0-0 0, Kirby 0 0-0 0. TEAM 10 4-6 26. 3pt FG 2 (Bowers, Aeilts).

JOLIET CENTRAL (38)

Sims 10, Fuller 10, Ward 8, Grubbs 6, Hornsby 2, Jones 2. TEAM 14 8-11 38. 3pt FG 2 Sims 2).

LCHS 2-4-10-10 26
JOLIET CENTRAL 10-4-10-14 38

[Jeff Benjamin]