Lincoln Railers return to action with a win over Jacksonville

[December 21, 2021] A healthy Railer lineup took the court at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium on Monday night against the Jacksonville Crimson. Lincoln kept their 8-winning streak alive with a 54-22 win.  

The Railers, despite not having played a game since December 7th at Taylorville, hit the court running in the first quarter. 

Lincoln’s Payton Cook won the tip over Jacksonville. Aidan Gowin would get the Railers on the board as he recovered a loose ball and ran for a layup to put Lincoln in front 2-0. Gowin would extend the Railers lead to 5-0 with a three. The Crimson answered with a three of their own to close the gap to 5-3. Back-to-back threes from Tyler Sasse advanced the Railers to an 11-3 lead. Elijah Pollice got in on the action with a three from the top of the key and Lincoln was out in front without missing a beat, 14-3 now the score. An alley-oop pass from Jake Bivin to Cook set the score at 16-3. Cook would sink two free throws for an 18-3 lead with around a minute left in the quarter. The Crimson would score again in the quarter, a three, but Lincoln’s Gowin matched that with another three as the quarter came to a close and Lincoln was off to a hot start from long range and held a 21-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. 

Lincoln continued making threes in the second quarter. Camden Nelson came into the game to sink a three to start the scoring. Gowin would sink back-to-back threes late in the quarter. That offense would be enough to give the Railers a 30-12 lead going into the half. 

The Railers stretched the lead to start the third quarter on a basket by Jake Bivin, on the assist from Cook. Cook added a bucket off the offensive rebound and the Railers were cruising with a 34-12 lead. Gowin launched a three to set the score at 37-12 midway through the quarter. Bivin’s basket put the Railers up 39-13. Another three from Sasse and Lincoln was nearing that running clock with a 42-13 lead. Gowin’s two free throws pushed the Railers over that hump and gave them a 44-13 lead. As the third quarter came to a close, it was Drew Hayes with the bucket in the paint, on the feed from Cook, and the Railers were crushing the Crimson 46-16.

Lincoln would start the fourth quarter with a running clock and that was welcomed on this Monday night. Nelson’s back-to-back threes in the quarter gave the Railers a 52-16 lead. A bucket from Ki’on Carson finished the Railers offense and with the Crimson scoring a little in the quarter, the final score would be 54-22.

Aidan Gowin led the Railers with 19 points. 

As a team, Lincoln made 12 three-pointers.  

Lincoln improves to 8-0 on the season. 

The Lincoln JV won 63-32 over Jacksonville. Lincoln put four players in double figures. Ki’on Carson led the Railers with 15 points. Connor Meagher scored 14 points. Trey Schilling tossed in 11 points. Drew Hayes hit double-digits with 10 points.

The Railers will play at Chatham tonight. The Varsity game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start. The JV game will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. 

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 54

Gowin 19

Nelson 9

Sasse 9

Cook 6

Bivin 4

Pollice 3

Carson 2

Hayes 2

Jacksonville 22

Belford 9

Saxer 3

Pool 3

Martinez 2

White 2

Roegge 2

McCombs 1

JV scoring 

Lincoln 63

Ki’on Carson 15

Meagher 14

Schilling 11

Hayes 10

Owens 5

Kani Carson 3

Evers 3

Dahmm 2

Jacksonville 32

Groves 8

Fry 6

Williams 6

McCombs 4

Reed 3

Finn 2

Decker 2

Washington 1

[Teena Lowery]