Lincoln gets the best of Nokomis in a coaching battle between childhood friends
Railers win 63-38 as former Fillmore basketball buddies and now two of the state's winningest coaches Neil Alexander and Steve Kimbro meet for the first time in their coaching careers

[January 27, 2019] 

Saturday night in Nokomis was one for the Redskins history books. Prior to the varsity tip-off Nokomis was honored by the IBCA for 1,500 basketball wins in school history.

To add to the excitement in the gymnasium, the Class 3A Lincoln Railers came to town to take on the Class 1A Nokomis Redskins, which featured childhood basketball buddies Neil Alexander and Steve Kimbro coaching against one another for the very first time.

The two coaches met for the first time in their high school coaching career at Nokomis. Next season they will meet again with a game scheduled in Lincoln for the 2019-20 season.

The two friends were at center court together before the game as the IBCA's Steve Allen presented Coach Kimbro a plaque.

Fillmore friends, Nokomis teammates and legendary high school coaches - Lincoln's Neil Alexander congratulates Nokomis' Steve Kimbro on reaching the 800-win club during the 2018-19 season.

Coach Alexander then presented Coach Kimbro with a whistle commemorating the achievement. After the ceremony at center court the coaches returned to their benches and it was game time.

As far as size, the Railers matched up well with the Redskins. Nokomis had two big guys in the lineup, 6'8 Carter Sabol and 6'6 Isaiah Bruder, who did their best to contain Lincoln's 6'10 Jermaine Hamlin. But with Lincoln's speed and sharp-shooting guards, Nokomis had their hands full.

With the Railers winning the tip, Hamlin quickly got them on the board with two easy points in the paint, not a dunk, but the extra point gave Lincoln a 3-0 lead.

A three from Kaden Froebe and a couple free throws from Hamlin put the Railers out front 8-0, as the Redskins were still trying to settle down and get a good shot.

A basket by senior Trevor Wright with 3:21 on the clock finally put the Redskins on the board. Teammate Isaiah Bruder quickly followed that up with a three and the lively bunch in the Redskins' student section was getting fired up.

Speaking of fired up, Lincoln's own point guard, sophomore Dylan Singleton, has been igniting the Railer offense from his position all season long and as of late he's been finding more and more ways to score on his own. He's shown fast improvement on the court since game one and there isn't a single second on the court that he isn't giving it his all. Singleton popped a three to stretch Lincoln's lead to 11-5 over Nokomis and the Lincoln fans are really loving this kid's effort.

Rolling right into another kid whose improvement on the court is the talk of the town, Froebe pulled up for another three and Lincoln was in control 14-7 as the first quarter was in the books.

Lincoln continued to get points from beyond the arc in the second quarter. Will Ewald got going at the 4:40 mark with his first three of the game and when this kid gets in the groove, Earth, Wind and Fire better look out. Nothing but net from this Railer as he launches 20-footers.

Lincoln cruised out to a 22-10 lead after Hamlin hit yet another bucket in the paint and drew the foul. Froebe and Ewald added more threes to increase the lead to 28-13 with just 2:04 left to play in the first half.

Noah Funk stretched that to a 30-13 lead after his steal and layup. Carter Sabol finished out the second quarter scoring for Nokomis and just like that the first half was complete as Lincoln was up 30-15.

The third quarter began with a missed dunk by Hamlin and lots of disappointing "ahhh's" throughout the gym. Everyone wanted to see the big guy from Lincoln dunk. Just hold on. There was still plenty of action in the fast-moving third quarter.

Ewald's fast break layup kept Lincoln on top 32-18. Ewald was still hitting threes in the third quarter, if anyone wants to know.

And then Froebe. Who knew this kid has "Moves Like Jagger" going through the lane? His layups are sweet, and they were abundant in the third quarter, but he was saving one of his best moves for last.

Singleton, too, was still finding a spot for an open jumper in the lane and he had no problem rising above everyone else for two points.

The Railers lead was out to 41-20 after a goal tending call on Nokomis' Mason Stewart allowed Froebe to add two more points to his game. With another nice move from Froebe dashing through the lane, Lincoln was up 43-24.

And finally as the third quarter was winding down, it was Froebe giving new meaning to "Under Pressure." The junior wanted the ball as the seconds ticked away. After dancing through the lane and sneaking behind Hamlin, Funk fired a pass to Froebe and what happened next was just like an Ed Sheeran song. Froebe made a quick move to the corner and did a little dance step back and the fadaway was in the air flying over the opponent's hand. The ball made the net dance as the buzzer sounded. It was "Perfect."

Nokomis' Alex Tosetti was defeated on defense and motioned his hands as his shoulders fell, as if to say, "What can this guy NOT do?"

Froebe and company ran off the court with a 45-24 lead. Simply beautiful.

Lincoln's fourth quarter was more of the same with a little something extra-special. With about 4:30 left in the game Hamlin gave the Nokomis student section and everyone else in the gym something they had wanted to see all night long. A Hamlin dunk. It was a nice little move that involved a pass coming up the court from Kameron Whiteman to Funk, who made his way towards the lane and just dished it off to Hamlin. Up and away went the senior and it was the Redskins student section going nuts. Next time down the court the Nokomis students, who were directly behind the Railers bench, applauded Hamlin even more. He acknowledged their praise by breaking out in a big grin and nodding to them. It was nice to see everyone was having fun. Those kids from Nokomis continued to tease Hamlin and beg for a windmill dunk next time. That didn't happen but it was nice to see the Redskins' fans so encouraging.

Meanwhile Froebe continued to be unstoppable and Lincoln was out to a 60-33 lead when the starters came out.

Landon Hullinger finished up the scoring for Lincoln and a 63-38 win over Nokomis was in the record books as the two teams and coaches shook hands afterwards.

Lincoln was led in scoring by Kaden Froebe with 21 points. Will Ewald never touched the rim all night long as he scored 16 points. Jermaine Hamlin delighted fans with 14 points.

Isaiah Bruder led Nokomis with 10 points.

Lincoln improves to 17-2 overall on the season.

A very impressive side note here for the childhood friends from Fillmore:

• Lincoln's Neil Alexander is No. 4 on the list of winningest coaches in Illinois history with 822 wins.

• Nokomis' Steve Kimbro is No. 6 on the list of winningest coaches in Illinois history with 808 wins.

Very impressive for two men who came from a community of 400 residents.

The Lincoln JV squad also earned a 59-34 win to improve their season record to 15-1. Landon Hullinger led the Railers with 14 points and Keagan Ferguson had 12 points for Lincoln.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 63

Froebe 21
Ewald 16
Hamlin 14
Singleton 5
Hullinger 5
Funk 2

Nokomis 38

Bruder 10
Sabol 9
Wright 7
Stewart 6
Clavin 3
Tosetti 3

JV scoring

Lincoln 59

Hullinger 14
Ferguson 12
Grunder 9
Tungate 7
Pollice 6
Helton 5
McCraith 3
Koehler 3

Nokomis 34

Clavin 12
Herpstreith 7
K. Knodle 7
S. Johnson 2
J. Johnson 2
Ty Knodle 2
Mascher 1
Engelman 1

[Teena Lowery]