Resurgent Railers avenge December loss, beat Jacksonville 56-45

 

[January 24, 2024]  Jacksonville – A popular sport adage states, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”

If those words seem familiar, it is because they were printed a few days ago as the lede paragraph for the story in this publication following the most recent game by the LCHS Railer boys basketball team, a 35-29 loss at Rock Island on January 20. In that defeat, Lincoln held Rock Island scoreless in the first quarter but could not hold a lead down the stretch and came up short against the Rocks.

On Tuesday night at Jacksonville, the adage again proved true, but fortunately for the Railers, they were on the opposite side this time around. The Crimsons used some red-hot shooting to build a first half lead, but Lincoln turned up its defensive pressure while spreading the wealth offensively to come away with a 56-45 non-conference victory.

Although both schools are members of the Central State 8 conference, only the first game played between the schools this season—a 51-43 win by Jacksonville on December 8 at Lincoln—counts in the conference standings. While avenging the earlier defeat did not impact Lincoln’s standings in the league, head coach Neil Alexander previously called the game against Jacksonville a “key game” and said that the results should have implications for the postseason.

“In the sectional complex, Jacksonville did beat us,” Alexander said following the Rock Island game. “I think they’re the only team that’s beaten us. It’s great for us that we get the opportunity to avenge that loss.”

Karson Komnick

Jacksonville shot 50 percent from the field in the opening quarter, including sinking four 3-pointers, to race out to a 16-10 lead. Jacksonville’s Ryan McCombs made a putback shot for the first points of the second period to give the Crimsons their biggest lead at 18-10. But Lincoln began clawing its way back with Karson Komnick hitting a field goal on a nice assist by Drew Hayes and Hayes sinking a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 18-15. Over the next few minutes, Jacksonville got a field goal from Isaiah Martinez and a 3-pointer from Milan Krusic while Lincoln got a free throw from Gabe Smith and a field goal from Aidan Gowin, making the score 23-18 in favor of Jacksonville.

The Railers then scored the next 6 points on field goals from Smith and Gowin along with a pair of free throws from Hayes to take a 24-23 lead. Kody Fry hit a shot for the Crimsons with 24 seconds remaining in the first half to retake the lead for Jacksonville, 25-24. Lincoln ran its next offensive series to perfection, eating up time on the clock so Jacksonville would not be able to drive the ball downcourt if they got a rebound. But the Railers were efficient in their clock management, as Hayes found Trey Schilling for an open look at a 3-pointer with 4 seconds on the clock. Schilling drained the shot to give Lincoln a 27-25 halftime advantage.

Coach Neil Alexander

Trey Schilling

While the score ebbed and flowed through much of the third quarter, Lincoln never trailed and extended its lead to 10 points by the end of the period, 42-32. The Crimsons could get no closer than 8 points in the final stanza, and Lincoln won by a final score of 56-45.

The Railers were led in scoring by Hayes with 16 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Schilling added 11, Komnick and Ki’on Carson added 8 each, Smith contributed 7 and Gowin tallied 6.

Lincoln forced 16 turnovers by Jacksonville while totaling 11 steals. The Railers only allowed 1 steal while committing 6 turnovers.

Martinez led Jacksonville with 15 points and Krusic added 12.

The win moves Lincoln’s record to 16-6 overall.

The Railers face off against a pair of former Apollo Conference foes this weekend. Lincoln hosts Mattoon on Friday (January 26) at 7:30 PM and plays at Taylorville on Saturday (January 27) in a 4:30 PM contest.

[Loyd Kirby]