Lincoln wins the battle with the Generals 53-40

 

[February 15, 2023]  Happy Valentine’s Day, Lincoln Railers! The outcome Tuesday night at Roy S. Anderson was better than any dinner date, that is if you’re a diehard Lincoln basketball fan. And the faithful obviously showed up in support of these Lincoln Railers and they were treated to an incredible game of basketball. Hopefully, couples enjoyed dinner at Guzzardos first but even the man himself, Mr. John Guzzardo, was courtside in his usual spot enjoying the outcome.

And what an outcome!

Lincoln beat Decatur MacArthur 53-40 and in all honesty the Railers played a phenomenal game of basketball and controlled the Generals from start to finish.
 

The Railers took a 7-4 lead in the first quarter after Jake Bivin’s three put them on top. Trey Schilling added a three to make the score 10-4 and the Generals were shell-shocked early. The two teams would eventually settle on a 12-12 tie with just under two minutes left in the first quarter. They battled back and forth until the buzzer, with the Generals taking a 16-14 first quarter lead. Payton Cook also tossed in six first quarter points.

Drew Hayes, who had scored a bucket in the first quarter, went down with an ankle injury with 5:43 left in the second quarter. He took a seat on the end of the bench wearing a boot for the rest of the game. Time will tell the extent of the injury to Hayes but without a doubt his absence is key as the sophomore really has played solid this season and taken some of the responsibility in the middle off of Cook’s shoulders. Nonetheless, the Railers battled on and with Aidan Gowin sinking back-to-back 3s Lincoln jumped in front 25-20. Next thing you know, it’s back door to Cook and the lead is 27-20. Don’t stop now, fellas! Cook obliged with a three just before the half and the Lincoln lead was 30-20. Give these guys a break. They’ve earned it.

Look out third quarter. Lincoln came out strong to start and ended with a 46-30 lead. Threes by Camden Nelson and Tyler Sasse really threw a spark into the festivities and with every other Railer on the court contributing to the offense, they looked unstoppable.

By the time the fourth quarter came to be, the Lincoln boys were dripping with sweat but still playing their hearts out. The Generals are a talented team full of athletic ability and they love to play above the rim, but Lincoln has that tenacious defense that will destroy you in a heartbeat. The Railers quietly dominated the fourth quarter with seven points scored and handed the Generals a 53-40 loss. With about a minute left in the game, Railer Nation was chanting “overrated” at the Generals, who held a no. 6 ranking in the Class 3A state rankings.

What a huge win for the Railers with the postseason coming up. After the game, Jake Bivin, Payton Cook and Aidan Gowin emerged from the locker room, each looking a little exhausted, but nobody was sweating like Bivin.

When asked if this was the biggest win of their high school career so far, Bivin and Cook agreed, “It’s definitely up there.”

“I think the thing that really got us to that point was we came out with a focus and a fire,” said Bivin. “We were ready to put them away as soon as the ball was tossed up. You know, smothering defense and we spaced the floor, we cut, we kicked out, we got good looks at the basket and that just allowed us to play how we played and do our best.”

The adrenaline rush was real. Bivin needed a breath after all that even. The kid was truly sopping wet.

Paton Cook, who finished the game with a team-leading 17 points, also noted the keys of the game.

“I would say our backdoors,” said Cook. “We got a lot of back doors and we had a ton of steals.” The Railers swiped the ball from the Generals 16 times to be exact. Bivin and Schilling each had four steals.

Bivin chimed in to give credit to some unsung heroes here.

 
“I would have to give our sophomores credit for that,” said Bivin. “The past couple of days when we were practicing, they had six guys out on the floor so that taught us to handle the ball well and we also prepared for the Generals offense. We were just moving the ball around and the coaches were just telling us where to be. You know, if you do it enough, you finally do it right in the game and you see what happens.”

Practice hard and it pays off, kids!

Gowin was also instrumental in the win, providing 10 points. His 3s put the Railers on the way to a big lead in the first half.

“Oh, it’s pretty big,” said Gowin of the win. “I mean to beat a team ranked that high in 3A. To me personally, I think we handled the intensity. We put it up pretty high and we handled the pressure. Our guys did well. Cook finished well. Jake did very well. All of our guys stepped up. That helps a lot when you need it.”

What a Valentine’s Day gift, Railers!

A packed gym, a fired up crowd and athletes playing a solid game of basketball for 32 minutes, it just doesn’t get any better than that. A Railer win tops off a perfect date night. Better than chocolates or flowers. This win will forever be in the hearts of those boys.

No doubt they got a good night’s rest, even Bivin looked worn out.

“This is the most tired I have ever been, even compared to cross country, this is way worse,” smiled Bivin, noting that the Generals were the fastest team they’ve played this season.

And the boys did it all in front of some future Railers in attendance, as at halftime the 8th graders from the community were introduced on Neil Alexander Court. As always, the future of Railer basketball is bright.

Lincoln improved to 24-5 overall on the season with the win over Decatur MacArthur.

Decatur MacArthur falls to 25-4 on the season. The Generals are 16-2 in the Central State Eight Conference.

In the JV game, the Generals defeated Lincoln 46-37. Frank Sanders led the Railers with 16 points.

The Railers will host Mahomet-Seymour on Thursday night for Senior Night. The JV game will tip-off at 6 p.m. and the Varsity game will start at 7:30 p.m.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 53
Cook 17
Gowin 10
Bivin 8
Schilling 6
Nelson 5
Sasse 3
Hayes 2
Carson 2

Decatur MacArthur 40
Wright 11
Dees 6
Cunningham 4
Murphy 4
Walker 4
Tatum 4
Brown 3
Woods 2
Leverson 2
 

JV scoring

Lincoln 37
Sanders 16
Stevens 9
Miller 6
Graue 3
Smith 3

Decatur MacArthur 46
Dees 15
Lee 12
Willis 7
Leverson 5
Wallace 4
Carson 3

[Teena Lowery]