LINCOLN 53, CHAMPAIGN CENTENNIAL 45

[November 22, 2016]  When two teams have had their last five contests decided by single digits, it’s no surprise that a team that goes down by 17 will not give in. On Monday night, the Lincoln Railers had to hold off a hard-charging Centennial squad, finally vanquishing the visitors for a 53-45 win to open the 2016-17 season.

The last five years the Railers and Chargers had battled in close contests, but when Lincoln junior Drew Bacon made a pair of free throws early in the fourth, the home team jumped out to a 44-27 lead and things were looking pretty rosy on the opening night of the Eaton Electrical Round Robin Tournament. But, tough defense from Centennial and some ill-timed complacency allowed the Chargers to climb as close as six points late in the game. Fortunately, Lincoln was able to hit just enough free throws to hold on for the win.

“I’m a little surprised at how we played tonight based on how we’ve been practicing,” Lincoln coach Neil Alexander said. “Our practices have not been good. The last eight minutes or so, that’s how we’ve looked in practice. But, it’s a win and we’ll move on and try to get better.”

Coming into the contest, experience was not on the Railers’ side. It’s no surprise then that the leaders on the night were the two with the most court time. Junior Isaiah Bowers had a strong night with 18 points while senior Bryson Kirby brought a solid defensive effort to go with his 11 points.

Kirby got the Railers on the board with a three-pointer, something he is quite accustomed to as he is the leading returning three point shooter form last year. After Centennial’s Dante Hemsouvanh tied the game with the first of his four threes on the night, the Railers defense took over on one end while Bowers dominated on the other. The junior scored nine, included a back door layup on a pass from Tate Sloan, during a Lincoln 12-0 run that pushed the advantage to 15-3 early in the second quarter.

As for the defense, I’m not sure I would want to be reaching for any of the last few items on the Thanksgiving table with these Railers around. From the opening tip, the Lincoln defense was quick afoot and even quicker with their hands, forcing errant passes and tip aways, resulting in steals. That last bit of turkey may disappear before I would even have a chance to reach for it. Kirby also contributed a block that further excited the crowd just moments after hitting a three pointer.

Centennial crawled back on the outside shooting of Hemsouvanh and Payton Sheen, the pair combining for five threes in the first half for 15 of Centennial’s 17 points over the first two quarters as Lincoln held a slim six point lead at the half at 23-17.

Just as in the first half. Lincoln came out strong in the second going on a 7-2 run in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter. After Bacon scored on a layup after a nice shot fake, Kirby hit a big three from the corner and Titus Cannon picked off a pass and went in for a layup to help the Railers stretch out to a 30-21 lead, forcing Centennial coach Tim Lavin to take a timeout. The well-coached Chargers scored on an easy play out of the time out, allowing them to settle back into the contest.

The Railers seemed to be putting the game away as the third quarter was coming to a close. A three from Kirby put Lincoln up 35-25. After Nolan Hullinger battled for a defensive rebound to keep the ball alive, Hullinger was rewarded as he drained one from behind the arc to push the margin to 13. Another back door to Bowers made the score 40-25 and it was Bowers who finished the scoring in the quarter as time was winding down, the Centennial defender fell, allowing the junior the most open look he had all night. When the layup went down as the buzzer sounded, the Railers were in command 42-27.

Taking the early 17 point lead in the fourth should have been just what the doctor ordered. However, inexperience doesn’t allow you to realize there can be pitfalls with success. “I think we were complacent too early,” Alexander stated. “We also took some bad shots. It’s a fine line to walk of being aggressive, but taking good shots.”

As Lincoln spread the court to run some clock, not many scoring options presented themselves. When one did, Ben Grunder took the opportunity and scored on a layup. It would be Lincoln’s only made field goal of the fourth quarter. The rest of their points would come from the free throw line. I’m not sure anyone expected how interesting the game was about to get.

During a stretch of the fourth, Bowers went to the line for the Railers on four straight occasions. While Bowers was hitting only two of seven attempts, Centennial had found their shooting eye. At the 1:28 mark, Centennial’s Kam Reaves drilled a three pointer and just like that, the Chargers were down just six at 48-42. After Bowers missed the front end of a one and bonus, and Cannon split a pair, Lincoln had creeped back to a seven point lead. Centennial also had a critical miss from Reaves on the front end of a one and one.

Grunder brought a little stability to the line when he sank both free throws to push the lead to 51-43. Eventually, Centennial ran out of time and with Kirby hitting two of four to end the game, Lincoln came away with the eight point victory. “The free throw shooting has to improve,” Alexander said. Yes, I know, it is only game one and this team will get better. But for Monday night, they were 14 of 26 and just 9 of 18 in the fourth quarter. Things like that can come back to haunt, but it did not against Centennial and game one is in the books.

As mentioned, Bowers led with 18 while Kirby had 11. Bacon had a solid night with nine points, while Cannon handled point guard duties for much of the game and finished with eight. Grunder added four with Hullinger scoring three.

Not a bad performance in the opener with Coach Alexander saying in the post-game that he told the team “22 minutes.” That is the time of good basketball he thinks he got on Monday. All in all, I, along with the rest of Railer Nation will take that. It’s a win, but there are things to improve on. We’ll see how they do in that regard when Wednesday rolls around as they have a date with Cahokia set for 7:30pm.

It’s Ok. I’m giving you permission to skip out on prepping for the meal on Thursday. Come out and catch the Railers and if you need me to sign a note for you to miss getting the stuffing or pumpkin pies ready, just let me know.

Other scores from Monday night: Cahokia slipped past Bartonville Limestone 62-57 while Mahomet-Seymour knocked off Danville 65-57.

LINCOLN (53)

Bowers 7 3-10 18, Kirby 3 2-4 11, Bacon 2 4-6 9, Cannon 2 3-4 8, Grunder 1 2-2 4, Hullinger 1 0-0 3, Sloan 0 0-0 0, Morris 0 0-0 0. TEAM 16 14-26 53. 3pt FG -7 (Kirby 3, Cannon, Hullinger, Bacon, Bowers).

CENTENNIAL (45)

Hemsouvanh 12, Sheen 8, Reaves 7, Cowper 6, Jo.Williams 4, Roberts-Thomas 3, Ja.Williams 3 Makabu 2. TEAM 12 13-15 45. 3pt FG – 8 (Hemsouvanh 4, Sheen 2, Reaves, Ja.Williams).

[Jeff Benjamin]