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With Lincoln down 31-27, Fry hit the first of three treys in a row
to being a 13-1 run that allowed Lincoln to jump out to a 40-32
advantage. From there, it was hang on for dear life while Fry and
sophomore Isaiah Bowers did the rest of the offensive work. “KJ hit
some big shots for us tonight,” Lincoln coach Neil Alexander said
after the game. “We’ve got three shooters that are kind of the same
so we hope at least one of them is hitting. Garrett (Aeilts) hit
some big shots for us there in the first half and last night was
Bryson’s (Kirby) night.”
After Friday night’s draining overtime loss to Jacksonville, the
Railers were right back at it on Saturday. To say Lincoln played an
average game, well, it is not meant as an insult. The Railers came
in averaging 47.4 points per game and shooting 80 percent from the
free throw line. On Saturday, they scored right at their average and
hit 81 percent of their free throws, hitting seven of their last
eight to secure the win.
Even though Lincoln’s leading scorer Aron Hopp finished with only
eight, his play was key to the function of Lincoln’s three point
game. “If you notice, a lot of our threes were the result of Hopp
getting the ball to the shooters,” Alexander said. With Hopp
positioned at the free throw line, the senior had the responsibility
of moving the ball quickly and finding open shooters who were ready
to fire at will. “When we went to the inside-out game, we had some
pretty good results. I’m not sure how many assists he finished with,
but he deserves credit for a lot of them.”
Hopp did get the Railers on the board just 20 seconds into the game
with a pair of free throws after being fouled on a shot off a back
door play. He put Lincoln’s basket in on another back door play,
taking advantage of Eisenhower’s overplays on man-to-man defense.
Aeilts, back in the starting lineup, drained the first of his threes
on the night and the Railers had jumped to an early 7-0 lead. The
Panthers did not score their first points until Juilan Jones hit a
three pointer with 4:32 left in the quarter. The Railers moved out
to a 9-5 lead when Hopp and Aeilts got together again on another
back door play, giving Hopp an early six points. After Fry hit three
free throws to move Lincoln out to a 12-7 lead, the Panthers were
able to battle back after a bad start tie the game at 12. The
Railers were able to grab the lead back when Bowers hit a three from
the right side just as time was expiring and Lincoln was up 15-12.
The lead did not last long as Stephon Bobbitt hit a three. After
trading baskets, the Railers moved back in front as Aeilts hit
another three pointer. For someone who missed a game on Tuesday and
didn’t start last night, the senior looked in great rhythm with his
shot, especially from the right wing. It was from there he hit his
third and final three of the night to put Lincoln up 23-19.
Eisenhower was able to stay close thanks to their ability to send a
player out of the defensive end and, when grabbing the rebound, able
to fire down court for open and lightly contested shot. Another
strength was that rebounding, giving them numerous attempts,
including one possession where offensive board work allowed
Eisenhower five shots at the basket.
The Railers took a four point lead at the half when Hopp turned from
the free throw line and hit a 15-footer putting Lincoln up 25-21.
After David Biggs dropped in a shot from about five feet away, the
Railers took a 27-24 lead. Lincoln was able to hold Julian Jones
scoreless in the second quarter after giving up eight in the first.
Jones took over in a 7-0 run, including a three pointer and a
putback, including a score at 3:22 left to give the Panthers (7-13,
1-10) their first lead of the night at 29-27, a lead that was
extended when Bobbitt scored to put the margin at four.
[to top of second column] |
That is when the inside-out work between Hopp and Fry kicked in. Two
threes from Fry, thanks to Hopp, around an Eisenhower free throw,
gave the led back to Lincoln at 33-32 at the end of the quarter. The
fourth started with Fry heading right back to his familiar spot in
the corner and hitting again. Fry tried one more time but was
fouled, however, he was only able to hit one of the three shots,
putting Lincoln up 37-32. Since Fry had all the fun, Bowers joined
in from just to the right of the top of the key and just that quick,
the Railers had their largest lead of the night at 40-32.
The Panthers had one more run in them as Jones kept them close with
another three, and after a free throw, Bobbitt scored on a jumper to
cut the game back to two. But, those free throws came at just the
right time. In the last 1:44, Bowers and Fry combined to go seven of
eight to secure the win. The end of game free throw work put Lincoln
at 13 of 16 for the game. I love stats and numbers and this one
tells you just how hard this particular part of the game is worked
on. Over the last eight games, Lincoln is 75 of 90, or 83 percent.
Fry led the way with 15 points while Bowers added 13. Aeilts hit
three threes for nine and Hopp finished with eight. Biggs added the
other two for the Railers. Kirby and Ben Grunder played but did not
score.
The Railers are able to take a breath now as, after playing five
games over nine days, now are in a part of the schedule where they
will play just one game in the next twelve days. The contest is on
tap for Friday as Lincoln heads to Springfield High School to take
on the Senators. Sophomores are scheduled to start at 6:00pm, while
the varsity will tip around 7:30pm. If you get a chance, try to
arrive early and take a look at the sophomore squad, a team that has
lost only once this season.
LINCOLN (47)
Fry 3 6-8 15, Bowers 3 5-6 13, Aeilts 3 0-0 9, Hopp 3 2-2 8, Biggs 1
0-0 2, Kirby 0 0-0 0, Grunder 0 0-0 0. TEAM 13 13-16 47. 3pt FG 8
(Fry 3, Aeilts 3, Bowers 2).
EISENHOWER (39)
Jones 19, Bobbitt 10, Davis 4, Graves 4, Hale 2. TEAM 15 3-6 39. 3pt
FG 6 (Jones 5, Bobbitt)
LCHS 15-10-8-14 47
EISENHOWER 12-9-11-7 39
[Jeff Benjamin] |
