Railer boys basketball team shoots well in 56-35 win over Sacred Heart-Griffin

 

[December 09, 2024]  SPRINGFIELD – While the outdoor temperatures plummeted over the past week, the LCHS Railer boys basketball team offense heated up against Sacred Heart-Griffin on Saturday in defeating the Cyclones 56-35.

“We hit shots,” said Lincoln coach Neil Alexander. “And when you hit shots, everything looks really, really easy.”

And hit shots the Railers did. LCHS sank 8 of 12 first half three-pointers in building a 30-17 lead at intermission. Lincoln went 10 of 17 overall from the field (59 percent) while holding SH-G’s first half overall field goal mark to 47 percent (7 of 15).

The Cyclones got onto the scoreboard first when Bardwell hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring. But the Railers got a pair of treys from Brady Miller and Karson Komnick sandwiching two Komnick free throws to give Lincoln an 8-3 advantage. In all, LCHS got four 3-pointers in the period, with Brody Tungate and Miller hitting a pair before the end of quarter as the Railers doubled SH-G’s offensive output 14-7 in the stanza.

The offensive firepower of Lincoln continued into the second period as Komnick hit a 3-pointer to open the quarter give LCHS a double-digit lead. The Railer advantage ballooned to 14 halfway through the period as Bryce Vlahovich and Komnick nailed shots from beyond the arc and Tungate got a rebound bucket while SH-G tallied a pair of field goals.

The Railers held a 30-17 halftime advantage. In addition to the scintillating shooting, the Lincoln defense made its presence felt, as LCHS turned nine Cyclone turnovers into 16 points.

“The kids played hard,” Alexander said of his team. “Really, really hard. That was our goal: regardless of the score, let’s just come out and play hard and play our type of game.”

After a fairly evenly-matched third quarter during which Lincoln outscored SH-G 12-10, Komnick put the team on his back for most of the final period to carry Lincoln to the win. The 6-foot-3 junior guard notched 10 of the Railers’ 14 points in the period, hitting five field goals for Lincoln in the quarter. Lincoln outscored Sacred Heart-Griffin 14-8 in the period to win 56-35.

SH-G was helped by late scores in each of the first three quarters of the contest. To end the opening quarter, Chuck Lanier snagged a rebound and scored for the Cyclones near the end of the period. To end the first half, Terrion Wallace dribbled upcourt and launched a last-second three-pointer that hit nothing but net. To end the third period, Myles Montgomery caught the inbounds pass following a made Railer free throw and tossed the ball from the opposite free throw line three-fourths of the way down the court to sink a three-pointer as the horn sounded.

Komnick led all scorers with 23 points. In addition, Tungate added 14, Miller chipped in with nine, Blake Horn contributed five points, Vlahovich scored three points and Gabe Smith notched two points.

Zion Lee led the Cyclones with 11 points.

After averaging 40.5 points in its first two games, Lincoln has found its groove on both sides of the ball as of late. The Railers have scored at a clip of 58.7 points per game in their last three contests while allowing only 44.7 points per contest.

Lincoln improved its record to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Central State 8. SH-G dropped to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the CS8.

Lincoln’s next game is another conference matchup as the Railers host Southeast on Dec. 10 at 7 PM.

Scoring for the game was as follows:

Lincoln (56) – Komnick 23, Tungate 14, Miller 9, Blake Horn 5, Vlahovich 3, Gabe Smith 2

Sacred Heart-Griffin (35) - Zion Lee 11, Cameron Brinkman 7, Lanier 5, Wallace 4, Jamarion Bardwell 4, Montgomery 3, Tereik Hurd 1.

[Loyd Kirby]