Railer boys basketball team extends winning streak to 6 games with 36-29 defeat of Glenwood

 

[February 07, 2025]  LINCOLN – The goal of high school coaches is to get their teams playing their best as the postseason tournament arrives. The Railer boys basketball team may be doing just that as Lincoln won its sixth straight contest Thursday night, defeating Glenwood 36-29.

For the first time in a long while, head coach Neil Alexander had a luxury that he’s not been used to having this season: a full bench. While some team members are still getting healthy and recovering from illness or injury, all his Railer players were in uniform Thursday night, which has been a rarity this season.

Traditionally, Lincoln-Glenwood games are low-scoring affairs, and this game fell into that category. Glenwood led 6-2 after the first period and 11-7 at halftime. But after a missed shot on its first possession of the second half, a spark seemed to ignite for the Railers. After an 0-for-4 performance by the team in shooting three pointers in the first half, Drew Hayes hit a long trey from a couple steps away from the arc. Hayes then sank another from the other side of the court to give Lincoln its first lead at 13-11. Then Karson Komnick got in on the act, hitting another three pointer to extend Lincoln’s lead to 16-11. In all, LCHS outscored Glenwood 16-2 over the first seven minutes of the second half, fueled largely by an 11-0 run. The Railers led 23-16 after three quarters.

Frank Sanders

Seniors Gabe Smith and Frank Sanders extended the Railer advantage to double digits at 27-16 with field goals to begin the fourth period. Titan Jonathon Helm tried to keep Glenwood within striking distance, tallying all six of his points on the night in the final stanza. But Sanders was equal to the task, amassing six of his 10 points for the game in the quarter. After a field goal by Mason Neumann pulled Glenwood to within six points at 31-25 with 1:03 remaining, the Railers hit five of eight free throws to seal the win.

“We came out and hit a couple threes early, and I think that got the blood flowing and we went on from there,” Alexander said of his team’s offensive explosion to open the third quarter. “The capability’s there; we have to fight for everything.”

Komnick led Lincoln with 11 points. Sanders added 10 points while grabbing six rebounds for the Railers.

“That guy was big,” Alexander said of Sanders. “On the boards, he came up with some great plays. He was really good. All the other kids were too.”

Gabe Smith

Gabe Smith tallied seven points and grabbed six rebounds for the Railers. Hayes added six points and Brody Tungate scored two points. Blake Horn and Brady Miller played but did not score for Lincoln.

Glenwood was led by two players in scoring, as Cameron Appenzeller and Matt Held each had seven points for the Titans.

The victory was Lincoln’s sixth in a row and moves the Railers’ overall record to 16-8 and 4-4 in the Central State 8 conference.

Glenwood drops to 15-8 overall and 5-3 in league play.

The game was Lincoln’s first of five over a six-day period. LCHS plays at Eisenhower in a 7 o’clock conference contest Friday night, then the Railers travel to Lanphier for a 2:30 game on Saturday afternoon. Following a day off Sunday, Lincon hosts Bloomington in a makeup game Monday then plays at Sacred Heart-Griffin on Tuesday.

[Loyd Kirby]