Trey’s treys trounce Taylorville; Railers beat Tornadoes 55-29

 

[January 29, 2024]  Taylorville – The Railer boys basketball team has had a knack as of late of limiting the offensive output of its opponents to begin games. On Saturday, Lincoln was on the receiving end of such treatment at Taylorville, as the Railers did not get their first points until almost midway through the first quarter when Gabe Smith drove to the basket for a layup.

Fortunately, however, Taylorville only tallied 3 points of its own during that timeframe, and Smith’s score seemed to get Lincoln on track. The Railers outscored the host school 14-8 in the first quarter—the last two points of the period coming on a last-second layup by Trey Schilling—en route to a 55-29 Lincoln victory over its former Apollo Conference foe.

Trey Schilling

While Schilling’s last-second layup to end the first quarter was memorable, it became merely a footnote during a career performance by the Lincoln senior. Schilling heated up in the third quarter, going 5 for 5 from the field, including 4 of 4 on 3-pointers. Overall he finished with 27 points, making 10 of 13 shots from the field including 6 of 7 3-pointers and sinking his lone free throw attempt.

Schilling was the only Railer who scored in double figures. Frank Sanders added 8 points, Drew Hayes chipped in 5, Smith and Brady Miller contributed 4 apiece, Brody Tungate tallied 3 and Karson Komnick and Aidan Gowin notched 2 points each.

Baron Odam led the Tornadoes with 6 points Taylorville, which dropped to 4-18 with the loss.

“Trey had a hot hand; we found him and it made a whole lot of difference,” Lincoln coach Neil Alexander said of Schilling’s performance. “He’s probably created a little bit of a problem for himself, because people are going to find him the next couple of weeks. Hopefully that will open up somebody else to have a night.”

While Schilling’s night was impressive, the Lincoln defense turned in another solid performance. The Railers swarming defense seemed to speed up the Tornadoes to play at a quicker pace than they were comfortable. Lincoln limited Taylorville to single digit point totals (8, 7, 5 and 9) in each quarter of the game.

“Defensively, in the second half we picked it up,” Alexander said. “They were not looking for a shot, they were looking for where is the defender coming from.”

The front end of the vaunted Railer 1-2-2 press seemed to cause problems for Taylorville all game. The Tornadoes committed 19 turnovers in the contest as Lincoln notched 14 steals.

Aidan Gowin

One player who’s come into his own as of late has been Gowin. Earlier in the season, Alexander moved the senior to play the point much of the time on the Railers’ press, and his length, quickness and overall tenacity have made things difficult for opponents.

“He gives our defense a whole different dimension,” Alexander said of Gowin. “He’s been playing really well defensively and offensively.”

Alexander said Gowin has not been the only Railer to emerge and find his role for the team.

“We’ve got guys that are starting to fill in and get a niche of where they’re supposed to be and what they’re supposed to be doing,” Alexander said. “Hopefully it will continue through the first of March.”
The victory moved Lincoln’s overall record to 18-7. The Railers have won 3 straight games and 5 of their last 6.

The next Railer boys basketball game is at home Friday, February 2 against Decatur Eisenhower starting at 7 PM. The Railers are at home the following day in a rematch with Lanphier starting at 6:30 PM. Lincoln defeated Lanphier on January 12 as Lanphier made a late 3-pointer to take the lead before time was put back on the clock and Ki’on Carson sank free throws after being fouled at midcourt to give Lincoln a 55-54 victory.

[Loyd Kirby]