Railer boys basketball squad suffers another injury while defeating Mahomet-Seymour in overtime 57-53

 

[December 21, 2024]  MAHOMET – It is expected that a basketball team will lose players over the course of a full basketball season. Each team plays more than 20 games, so the odds are good that someone will suffer some kind of injury at some point.

If the player lost by a team due to injury is a starter, that can be quite a bit to overcome.

And if a team loses a pair of starters, not only does this often impact positions players are assigned as a coach looks to adjust the lineup, it can also stretch the roster a bit thin due to fewer bench players being available.

And if a team loses three of its starters—60 percent of its starting lineup—the impact on players’ roles is magnified even more.

Such became the case for the Railer boys basketball team as senior Drew Hayes went down with an apparent injury to his lower leg/ankle area in the second quarter of Lincoln’s 57-53 overtime victory over Mahomet-Seymour.

Hayes injury comes in a season during which teammates Frank Sanders (leg) and Karson Komnick (wrist) have missed games due to their ailments. While the extent of Hayes’ injury was unknown immediately after the game, his movements after the contest appeared to be significantly hampered due to the injury. In addition, he tried unsuccessfully to return and play in the third quarter, but he signaled to the bench to be removed from the game and did not return to the contest.

“We’ll just have to wait and see, but you know it will be bad in the morning,” Railer head coach Neil Alexander said after the game of Hayes’ injury. “Once you sleep on it, that’s the way it turns out.

“I’m hoping we’ve only got five more games like this [with three missing starters] before we start piecing it back together. We’ve just got to get a couple kids back; three of them would be great, but we’ve just got to keep plugging away.”

While the concerns about the extent of Hayes’ injury hung over the Railers after the game like a cloud of gloom and doom, the team did have a few silver linings it which it could take pride while beating the Bulldogs in overtime.

The obvious positive for the Railers is that Lincoln won the game. The Railers withstood several rally attempts by Mahomet-Seymour in picking up the victory, and such experience can only help LCHS as the team gets into the thick of its Central State 8 schedule with eyes on making a run in the postseason.

Another gem for Lincoln has been the play of senior Blake Horn. While of course no one wants to see any Railers injured, the 6-foot-3 senior has made the most of his increased playing time. Against Mahomet-Seymour, Horn scored eight of the team’s 12 first quarter points en route to tallying 20 points on the evening. This scoring outburst comes after Horn also put 20 points on the board in Lincoln’s win over East Peoria one week earlier.
“He’s had two really good back-to-back games with the offense,” Alexander said of Horn’s performance.

Mahomet-Seymour extended its first quarter lead to 10-6 when Landyn Hannah scored on a reverse layup. But then Horn went to work, hitting a pair of three-pointers in the final minute of the quarter, the final one with just three seconds remaining in the stanza to give Lincoln a 12-10 advantage.

Lincoln outscored the Bulldogs 13-11 in the second period to hold a 25-21 lead at halftime. Following intermission, Mahomet-Seymour clawed its way closer throughout the third period and second half. The Bulldogs outscored LCHS 11-9 in the third quarter and 13-11 in the final period to make the score 45-45 at the end of regulation.

Brody Tungate hit a pair of free throws to give Lincoln a two-point advantage in overtime, but Lucas Dyer scored on a long three-pointer to put the Bulldogs up 48-47.

On the next Railer possession, Gabe Smith drove to the hoop for a layup to give the lead back to Lincoln. On its next possession, Mahomet-Seymour missed a three-point attempt, but Bulldog Jackson Bohm corralled the rebound and got it to Miles Woolsey, who was fouled when hitting a layup. The MSHS senior missed the free throw, and the Bulldogs held a two-point advantage.

A strong drive to the hoop through contact by Brady Miller gave Lincoln a 51-50 lead with just under two minutes remaining. The Bulldogs failed to score on their next possession; the Railers rebounded the ball and tried to milk as much clock as they could. Horn was fouled and the senior sank a pair of charity tosses to extend Lincoln’s lead to 53-50.

After MSHS failed to score, Gabe Smith of Lincoln was fouled on a drive to the hoop. The Railer senior sank both free throws to push the LCHS lead to 55-50. On their next possession, the Bulldogs got a three-pointer from Jackson Bohm to make the score 55-53.

Although Mahomet-Seymour turned up its defensive pressure, Tungate manager to secure the ball and was fouled. The Railer junior hit both free throws to end the scoring and secure a 57-53 win for Lincoln.

After missing out on the chance to play for the championship in their own Thanksgiving tournament because of losing the free throw percentage tiebreaker, Lincoln hit 14 of 17 shots from the charity stripe against MSHS.

“We’re shooting it pretty good right now,” Alexander said. “And when they [the Railers] come out and we’re mentally focused, we can shoot it a little bit.”

The victory moved Lincoln’s overall record to 7-2. The Railers will put their 2-1 mark in the CS8 on the line when they host Glenwood in a 7 PM game on the LCHS campus at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium.

“It’s a big conference game.” Alexander said of the contest against Rochester. “They’re pretty darn good. They’re physical. They’re tall. They’re long. They’re shooters. They’re well coached.”

While Hayes’ status for the Rochester game was not immediately known following the Mahomet-Seymour game, Alexander said he is hopeful the senior will be able to log some minutes against the Rockets.

“It’s just such a hodge-podge right now,” Alexander said. “We’ll keep putting it together.”

Tipoff for the December 21 game at home against Rochester is scheduled for 7 PM. The game will be Lincoln’s final action prior to its participation in the Prairie Farms Holiday Class Tournament in Collinsville. Lincoln is scheduled to play its opening game in the tournament on December 26 at 7:30 PM against Mundelein.

[Loyd Kirby]