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 [January 15, 2024]
Lincoln – If the ABC television network is looking for
inspiration to make a music video for the opening theme song of its
old “Wide World of Sports” program, perhaps the network executives
should check in with the LCHS Railer basketball team.
As announcer Jim McKay narrated over the show’s opening theme, the
program spanned the globe to show its audience “the thrill of
victory and the agony of defeat.”
In a span of less than 24 hours, the Railers followed up their most
thrilling game of the season-- a dramatic one-point victory on
Friday over rival Lanphier--with a 48-31 loss Saturday at the hands
of Class 4A state-ranked Quincy, a defeat that was, in many ways,
agonizing.
Coach Neil Alexander
“I’m kind of disappointed,” said Lincoln head coach Neil Alexander.
“I didn’t think we competed. I thought we had early shots, but
you’ve got to make shots whenever you play somebody like this. You
can’t dig yourself a 10-0 hold and expect to survive it.
“We kind of looked like we were dragging after last night. If we’re
out of shape and out of condition, then that’s my fault.
One night after a pair of Ki’on Carson free throws with 0.2 seconds
on the clock propelled them to a win at the opening of Lanphier’s
new gymnasium, the Railers looked a step slow against Quincy. While
Lincoln on Friday often drove to the basket and created offense, the
Railers on Saturday mostly stayed around the perimeter and ran their
weave offense along the 3-point arc, unable to penetrate the Blue
Devil defense.
“They’re good,” Alexander said of Quincy, runner-up at the
Collinsville Holiday Classic Tournament and ranked No. 4 in the most
recent Associated Press Class 4A poll. “They’re well coached.
They’ve got size and length, and you could tell the difference in
strength. They would basically just hold us from doing anything we
wanted to do.”
Quincy was on fire from the start, hitting its first six field goal
attempts as the Railers missed their first five. By the time Trey
Schilling grabbed an offensive rebound and scored Lincoln’s first
two points on a field goal, the Blue Devils had amassed 10 points.
Quincy scored 6 more points in the period while holding Lincoln
scoreless the rest of the frame to give the Blue Devils a 16-2 lead
at the end of the quarter.
Quincy outscored the Railers 24-14 in the middle two quarters to
extend its lead to 40-16. As has been the case all season no matter
the score, Lincoln continued to play hard in the fourth quarter and
seemed to find some life, tallying almost as many points in the
final period (15) as they scored in the previous three quarters of
the game (16). Quincy’s lead ballooned to 25 points with 4:32
remaining in the game, but the Railers outscored the visitors 13-5
the rest of the way. Quincy defeated Lincoln 48-31.
The win moved Quincy’s record to 17-1, with the lone blemish coming
from the 44-39 loss to Collinsville in the championship of the
Collinsville Holiday Classic Tournament.
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While Alexander knew the Blue Devils would be a formidable opponent,
he has stated that he likes scheduling games against teams from
larger classes in the IHSA system. He has said such games help
prepare the Railers for the quicker, more physical teams they may
face in the postseason. Thus, perhaps a Quincy victory was not a
major surprise as far as the outcome goes, but aspects of the game
and the way Lincoln lost did not sit well with Alexander.
“We had some loose balls out there, and I was really disappointed
because I don’t think we even flinched at some of them, if not all
of them,” he said. “I don’t think we got a loose ball until late in
the game. If you’re going to be successful, you’ve got to come up
with those 50/50 balls. And they [the Blue Devils] were just so much
quicker to them tonight.”
“We struggle with back-to-back games. I don’t know if it’s
conditioning or what, but it’s kind of discouraging.”
Trey Schilling
Lincoln was led in scoring by Trey Schilling with 10 points. No
other Railers scored in double figures.
Camden Brown and Bradley Longcor led the way for Quincy with 16 and
14 points, respectively.
With the loss, the overall record of the Railers falls to 13-6.
Lincoln returns to action Tuesday with a 7 PM nonconference game at
Bloomington. The contest is the first of four straight away games
for the Railers, who play at Normal U-High (Jan. 19), Rock Island
(Jan. 20) and Jacksonville (Jan. 23) before returning home Jan. 26
to face Mattoon.
“It'll be a good game,” Alexander said of the contest against
Bloomington. “I know they’re struggling a little bit, but after you
have a game like we did tonight, we’ve to be able to see where we’re
at and see what kind of character we’ve got to be able to bounce
back and be able to pick up another one.
“Every one of them is an important game for us. We need to be able
to pick up a big win somewhere…a big, big win. We’ll take them one
at a time.”
[Loyd Kirby]
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