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 On Friday night, that debt was repaid.
As Glenwood hoped for an outright championship on their home court
on senior night, the Railers finally came away with that close win,
holding on with free throw shooting to knock off the Titans 32-29.
With Southeast beating Lanphier on the final night of the regular
season, had Glenwood come back for the victory, they would have been
able to claim the title all to themselves. Instead, their loss left
them in a four way tie for the top spot, sharing the title with
Lanphier, Southeast, and Jacksonville.
From Railer Nation “You’re welcome.”
In a typically physical, low scoring Lincoln-Glenwood matchup that
saw everything from a fire alarm during the pre-game to cheerleaders
from both schools embroiled in a contentious flipping contest during
the latter stages of the game, it was a fun way to end the regular
season. In the end, it came down to free throw shooting as the
Railers hit 8 of 9 on the game, including seven of eight in the
fourth quarter to hang on for the win. Aron Hopp led the Railers
with 12 points and KJ Fry hit a pair of free throws with 13 seconds
to help lead Lincoln to the win.
One thing Glenwood is known for is their toughness. Even with some
of Lincoln’s best teams, Glenwood has always found a way to get the
upper hand in the physical play. On Friday night, the Railers stood
toe-to-toe with the Titans and their own toughness stood tall,
especially on defense.
“I’m really pleased with our defense tonight,” Lincoln coach Neil
Alexander said. “Our kids did a great job, on traps, on everything.
We did a few different things and I thought they did really well.”
Alexander noted the inspiration for the play came from another team
that is playing rather well, the Lady Railers. “The way they play,
that’s what we are using. You see some teams that don’t get after
it, but they (the Lady Railers) do. I mean, they hustle and they
want it. That’s where we need to be.”
For Glenwood, things started in a similar fashion to last time when
Ethan Hunt hit a three pointer. No one in attendance could have
guessed it was the only time the Titans would hold the lead over the
Railers. Garrett Aeilts answered back to tie the game while Hopp hit
from 15 feet to give the Railers their first lead of the night at
5-3. Whether it was good defense or offenses just unable to find any
rhythm, that ended the first quarter scoring.
And, if you didn’t like the low scoring first quarter, then the
second wasn’t much to your liking either. Isaiah Bowers grabbed a
missed shot and put Lincoln up 7-3 with the offensive rebound.
Lincoln, which has suffered through too many scoring droughts
throughout the season, was able to watch another team finally endure
zero-result possessions. It wasn’t until 1:34 was left in the half
when Hunt hit his second three of the night to cut the lead to 7-6.
Lincoln was able to take advantage of good offensive rebounding to
end the half. Off a missed shot, Ben Grunder and Bowers kept the
ball alive as the ball found its way to Hopp to hit a three to send
the Railers to the break up 10-6.
Yep, 10-6. Only 16 points in the first half. Both offenses were
patient, some of that forced by defenses that just would not give
ground.
Hunt opened the second half with a bucket giving him all eight
Glenwood points as Lincoln’s lead was cut to just two. Lincoln
(16-14, 9-9) ran off five in a row to extend the lead as Fry hit
from three point range and Hopp picked up a loose ball and found
Bowers heading down court for a layup and a 15-8 lead. An easy
lay-in from Glenwood’s Joel Alexander put someone other than Hunt in
the scorebook and cut the margin to five.
Another basket from Bowers made it 17-10 and if Glenwood thought
they would be able to push the Railers around, this was not the
night it was going to happen. They were able to cut into Lincoln’s
lead as Parker Allen scored his first points of the night followed
by a three point play from Joel Alexander. However, every time
Glenwood pushed, the Railers pushed back with an answer of their
own. Hopp took an outlet pass and, by the time he hit mid court,
made up his mind he was heading to the basket. Seeing an opening on
the left side of the lane, the Lincoln senior burst upcourt, took
the ball up strong and was fouled on the basket. After the made free
throw, Lincoln was back up 20-15.
Up only 20-17 as the quarter was coming to an end, the Railers kept
the momentum with five seconds to go as Bryson Kirby inbounded the
basketball and got the return pass in time to launch a three from
the corner that swished through the basket as the period came to an
end, giving the visitors a legitimate chance at pulling off the
surprise.
[to top of second column] |
Glenwood would certainly not go down without a fight and the
beginning of the fourth quarter was evidence of that with Allen
scoring on a lay in and Hunt hitting his third three of the night
and before the quarter had barely begun, the Titans (18-10, 14-4)
had trimmed the deficit to just one at 23-22. Lincoln’s lone basket
of the quarter may have been the evening’s turning point, the
stonewall moment of the contest where the Railers said “we are not
going away.” Bowers grabbed an entry pass, turned at the free throw
line and through the Glenwood defenders, somehow put up a shot that
found its way to the bottom of the basket as the sophomore was being
fouled. As Bowers connected from the line, the lead went back to
four at 26-22.
After Glenwood’s Will Hanlon split a pair of free throws, Hopp
stepped to the line to hit two pair of free throws, one pair with 48
seconds left and the other just 15 seconds later to extend the lead
to 30-23. Joel Alexander hit a pair from the line with 24 seconds to
go to bring the game back to 30-25. It was now Grunder’s time to
step to the line. With 20.8 remaining, Grunder missed the
opportunity and Glenwood did not miss theirs. With 13.9 to go, Matt
Bahlmann hit his only shot of the night, a contested three from deep
in the left corner and it was back to a two point game.
KJ Fry stepped to the line for two of the biggest free throws of the
season and calmly sank both of them with 13.1 left to put the lead
back to four at 32-28. On Glenwood’s final possession, shot after
shot rolled off only to see Alexander fouled with 3.3 left on the
clock. He made the first one to make it a one possession game, but
intentionally missed the second one hoping for a rebound and three
from someone to tie the game. Unfortunately, his miss was not very
good as his attempt hit high off the back board, never striking the
rim, resulting in a violation, and giving the ball back to the
Railers.
Only 3.3 seconds between the Railers and a sweet victory and those
final ticks went down as the inbounds pass was thrown deep into
Lincoln territory to Hopp who dribbled out the time and the victory
was Lincoln’s. The Railers were finally able to get one of those
close wins. Just the kind of win you want heading into the
postseason.
Hopp led the way with 12 points with Bowers adding nine. Fry scored
five on the night while Aeilts and Kirby each chipped in with three.
And just like that, everyone is back to 0-0. With the postseason
starting on Monday night, win and advance, or lose and get ready for
track and baseball season. The Railers have been waiting for one of
these wins and, if they can get by Clinton on Monday night, they
have a chance to face opponents that slipped by earlier in the
season. Now that the postseason is upon us, that task may not be so
simple.
If they play up to their capabilities, would you want to play the
Railers in tournament time, especially at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium?
I have a feeling a lot of coaches would say no. Monday’s game is set
for 7:30, right after game one which will see Taylorville take on
Decatur Eisenhower beginning at 6.
LINCOLN (32)
Hopp 3 5-5 12, Bowers 4 1-1 9, Fry 1 2-2 5, Aeilts 1 0-0 3, Kirby 1
0-0 3, Grunder 0 0-0 0. TEAM 10 8-9 32. 3pt FG 4 (Aeilts, Hopp, Fry,
Kirby).
GLENWOOD (29)
Hunt 11, Alexander 8, Allen 4, Bahlmann 3, Hanlon 3. TEAM 10 5-7 29.
3pt FG 4 (Hunt 3, Bahlmann).
LCHS 5-5-13-9 32
GLENWOOD 3-3-11-12 29
[Jeff Benjamin]
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