Lincoln Railers win final game of the 2021 season over Peoria Quest Charter Academy 58-26
- Hullinger finishes career with 625 points and 101 three-pointers
- Neil Alexander moves into second place in IHSA history with 882 career basketball coaching wins

[March 16, 2021]  The Lincoln Railers ended their 2021 season on Saturday afternoon with a nice and easy 58-26 win over the Peoria Quest Charter Academy Gators. It was the Railers second game of the day and the blowout gave Coach Neil Alexander an opportunity to play his bench and give fans a glimpse of the future.

Lincoln dashed out to an 8-2 lead in the first quarter with Landon Hullinger and Dylan Singleton combining for the first Railer points.

The Gators came back chomping at the bit and clinched a 9-8 lead.

Before the quarter ended it would be all Lincoln again. Hullinger and Singleton poured in two-point buckets while Adam Grunder hit a three in the middle of the action and with the first quarter quickly coming to a close the Railers were up 15-9.

Hullinger and Singleton continued to make the most of their last game in a Railer uniform and rolled out the first several points in the second quarter. The Railer lead grew to 23-12. After a layup by Andrew Graue, Lincoln was in charge with a 25-12 lead. Four more points from the senior duo put the Railers up 29-15 at the half.

Brody Whiteman stepped in the paint early in the third quarter to add to the Lincoln lead. Hullinger was having a great game and really shined in the third quarter. He pulled the lob pass out of the air for an easy bucket at the 4:55 mark and it was a 35-18 Lincoln lead. Singleton’s three at the top of the key kept the Gators at a distance, 39-18 the score. A little stop ’n pop from Hullinger sent the message loud and clear to Peoria Quest, the Railers had every intention of winning this game.

Icing on the cake for Hullinger was a three that followed at the 2:44 mark and that bucket put Lincoln in command 44-18. That three would be number 101 of his career, moving him into Railer history with some elite company.

Adam Grunder also got to make a statement before he left the game. One more three from Grunder stretched the lead to 47-20.

With just under two minutes to play Singleton’s left-handed layup made the score 49-20. Seconds later Coach Alexander decided to take his seniors out of the game one last time. All three seniors would exit the game at the 1:33 mark and be greeted with hugs from the coaching staff.

With Jaylen Conway taking over the point from Singleton, he wasted no time hitting a three to pad that lead, 52-20 the score. A bucket from Drake Rutledge with 5.5 seconds remaining would land the third quarter score at 54-20 and it was really time for the Gators to crawl back into the water.

A nice 30-point lead heading into the final quarter always means a running clock, in this case the clock was a little slow to start running, but no worries. The quarter still flew by and gave the bench players plenty of time to show off their hustle.

Lincoln would not score until under the minute mark and when they did it was Tyler Sasse with a bucket. Conway was quick to follow with the steal and layup to end the Railers scoring for the 2021 season.

The final score was in the books, 58-26.

Landon Hullinger led the Railers with 20 points. He would finish his stellar basketball career with 625 points. His 101 three-pointers scored in his career also moves him up on that list in Railer history.

Dylan Singleton finished with 19 points in the game. For his career he finishes with 1,033 points.

Coach Neil Alexander also moved up on the list of winningest coaches in Illinois history. Alexander finished the season with 882 career wins. He is just second behind Gene Pingatore, who has 987 career wins. Pingatore coached at St. Joseph’s High School in Westchester. He died in 2019.
 

The Railers finish the season with an 18-5 record.

Congratulations, Coach Alexander and the entire Railer basketball program on a memorable season!

By late Saturday afternoon there was a caravan of family, friends, fans, police cars and fire trucks that escorted the two short Railer buses into town. Arriving back at the school the players were all smiles, due much in part to feeling the support of the community.

Senior Landon Hullinger leaves the Railer program with a lot of highlights and he was happy to share some on Saturday as the season had come to an end.

“One of the highlights that stands out for me was definitely the MacArthur game last season,” said Hullinger. “I would call it the greatest game I have ever played in because of the atmosphere, energy and just all of my teammates. Just the emphasis around that season.”

Railer fans undoubtedly remember that as the 32-2 season that ended before Lincoln had the opportunity to play Lanphier for a Sectional Championship.

On a personal level, Hullinger recalled throwing down his first dunk in a game, in front of family and friends made it even more special.
 

“Personally, I would probably say getting my first dunk against Belleville Althoff my junior year was a memory I’ll never forget. My whole family was at the game and my aunt and uncle made the trip down from Chicago and my brother (Nolan) came down from Chicago, too, and brought some of his friends, so everybody was able to see it. It was awesome.” That moment was at the 2019 Eaton Thanksgiving Tournament at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium.

Speaking of Nolan, Hullinger got his love of the game from his older brother. “Just seeing Nolan out there on the court playing inspired me,” said the younger Hullinger. “You know, it’s the little brother taking after the big brother. It’s the competitiveness that he has and that I have. It’s the nights in the driveway where he would just kick me around, playing one-on-one and I would always be upset because he beat me. It’s not like I wanted to be better than him, it’s that I wanted to be just like him and do all the stuff he was doing. It’s just awesome to fill those shoes and do more. It means a lot to me and it definitely means a lot to Nolan.”

The caravan of Railer fans who greeted the players as they arrived to the edge of Lincoln on Saturday was also something appreciated by Hullinger.

“It’s just so nice to know that Railer Nation is still there,” he said. “At those games, you know you don’t feel it but you know that they are watching. You just don’t feel the presence. Coming back into town, the emotions I had….I felt everything again, from last year, from my sophomore year. All the times that Railer Nation has supported us just means so much to me and all of my teammates.”

“If there is one thing I could say to Lincoln, it would be just thank you for allowing me to play the best game in the greatest atmosphere possible,” said Hullinger. “I would not have enjoyed it as much if it were not for the people of Lincoln. The fans just created the best atmosphere for us. It’s all been surreal. It really brings a smile to my face just knowing that there’s so many Lincoln fans out there and they’ve got our back. This is easily one of the greatest basketball programs in the nation.”

With his 6’5 frame, Hullinger made a huge impact in the Railer lineup, scoring both in the paint and from long range. He also played tough on defense, pulling down rebounds and swatting away a basket or two now and then. So what would the man himself like his legacy to be?

“I would want to be remembered as a guy who gave it his all every night,” said Hullinger. “I just want to be remembered as somebody who always loved doing the dirty work. The charges, the rebounding, the relentless toughness, that’s what I would want them to remember me for.”
 

He will be remembered for that and so much more. There of course were multiple times his head was wrapped in bandages and he had to change uniforms because of the blood stains, but under it all he was a kid who played his heart out, night after night after night.

The 23-game short season was grueling, but Hullinger and his teammates never stopped working hard. These kids made lemonade out of the buckets of lemons that were thrown at them.

That in and of itself is a memory that the community will never forget.

Thank you, Landon and your teammates!

Until next season, here are the points one more time.

Scoring

Lincoln 58

Hullinger 20
Singleton 19
Grunder 6
Conway 5
Graue 2
Whiteman 2
Sasse 2
Rutledge 2

Peoria Quest 26

Daily 10
Kirksey 5
Smith 5
Young 4
Corey 2

[Teena Lowery]