Railers improve to 22-2 with win over Wheaton Warrenville South
Coach Neil Alexander moves to No. 3 of Illinois' winningest coaches

[February 10, 2019] 

The Lincoln Railers are on a roll, winning 11 straight games and pushing Coach Neil Alexander to No. 3 on the list of winningest coaches in Illinois High School Basketball history.

With Lincoln's 49-37 win over Wheaton Warrenville South on Saturday night at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium, Coach Alexander has achieved 827 career wins.

The Railers (22-2) welcomed a tough Tigers team from Wheaton Warrenville South (17-10) on Saturday night.

Kameron Whiteman got the Railers offense started off with a quick three off the pass from Dylan Singleton.

Singleton and Whiteman would combine for the team's points in the first quarter and at the end of one it was the Tigers on top 8-7.

The Railers made it rain threes in the second quarter and quickly jumped out in front.

After Whiteman tied the game at 10-10 with his three, Lincoln got an extra offensive boost out of Noah Funk off the bench. Funk dropped three consecutive threes without a miss in a matter of two minutes to put Lincoln on top 19-12.

The Tigers would score a free throw to close out the first half scoring. Lincoln held a 19-13 advantage at the half.

Whiteman kept his streak of threes alive in the third quarter. He put Lincoln up 22-13.

The scoring was slow in the third quarter, and to add to the woes, a missed alley-oop by Jermaine Hamlin with 4:04 left to play in the quarter did cause Railer Nation a little disappointment. But they still managed to maintain a high level of energy all decked out in their red, white and blue on the USA-themed evening. And their good-natured chants kept the fans and players in the game.

Finally the Tigers scored on a three at the 2:40 mark and the game was 22-16. The Tigers outscored Lincoln 7-5 in the final minutes of the third quarter and the buzzer sounded with Lincoln on top 27-23.

The Railers padded the lead in the fourth quarter after Singleton scored on a field goal and two free throws.

Funk then made it 4-for-4 from three-point range as he dropped one in from long distance and the Railers were out in front 34-26.

Hamlin put the Railers up 36-26 with just less than five minutes to play.

Seconds later, Hamlin would pick up his fourth foul and take a seat on the bench. Hamlin only rested for about a minute before hitting the floor again. He was in long enough to score a couple free throws and play a little defense. He would foul out at the 1:52 mark with 9 points and 4 rebounds. Lincoln's lead was 42-30 when Hamlin exited.

The Railers had no trouble closing the door on the Tigers chances. Quickness prevailed down the stretch with Singleton and Kaden Froebe scoring layups.

Funk finished his evening off 1-for-2 from the free throw line with 17.2 seconds left and the game well in the hands of Lincoln.

Noah Funk led the Railers in scoring with 13 points versus Wheaton Warrenville South. The Railers defeated the Tigers 49-37.
 

A 49-37 win was in the books seconds later and Lincoln trotted off the court with a 22-2 record in tow and Coach Alexander's career win no. 827.

Noah Funk led Lincoln with 13 points. Kameron Whiteman continues to hit double-digits with 11 points.

JV

In the JV contest Wheaton Warrenville South defeated Lincoln 56-27. Brody Whiteman led the Railers with 8 points.

The Lincoln JV squad falls to 16-5.

Game note: Leading-scorer Landon Hullinger did not play. He suffered an awful-looking eye injury in Friday night's game versus Effingham. An elbow to the face caused his eye to pretty much swell shut. It's a doozey to see and it is indefinite how long he will remain out.

Lincoln will host Bloomington High School Tuesday night at Roy S. Anderson. The JV will tip-off at 6:00 p.m. Varsity tips at 7:30 p.m.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 49

Funk 13
Whiteman 11
Hamlin 9
Froebe 8
Singleton 8

Wheaton Warrenville South 37

Kratz 11
Scherman 9
Rachford 7
Ermer 4
Ives 3
Keating 2
Howard 1

JV scoring

Lincoln 27

B. Whiteman 8
Tungate 5
Grunder 5
Koehler 3
McCraith 3
Ferguson 2
Klopp 1

Wheaton Warrenville South 56

Fawcett 19
P. Brown 14
Clousing 12
England 5
J. Brown 3
Eckert 3

[Teena Lowery]