CS8 champion MacArthur snaps Railer win streak at 10 games; Generals defeat Lincoln 42-33

 

[February 15, 2025]  DECATUR – The Railer boys basketball team had its 10-game winning streak snapped as MacArthur used an 11-0 second quarter run to take the lead and held off a late comeback attempt by Lincoln to defeat the Railers 42-33.

Once MacArthur built a lead coach Tarise Bryson was comfortable with, the Generals mostly went to a delay game, either letting time run off the clock as they stood and held the ball or dribbling and passing around the court while making the Railer defense chase and attempt to steal the ball.

While the tactics didn’t make for the most exciting game for fans to watch, they did prove effective for MacArthur, as the Generals moved to 21-7 overall and 9-1 in the Central State 8 Conference. The Generals had secured the league title by virtue of a win last week. Lincoln fell to 20-9 and 5-5 in the CS8.
 

“They’re a good basketball team, but I think we can play with them,” Railer head coach Neil Alexander said after the game. “If we can get them on a neutral court, maybe things would be different.”

Funny that Coach Alexander should mention a neutral court matchup against the Generals. Earlier in the day, the IHSA released the seedings and schedule of games for the postseason, and if the Railers and MacArthur each win their first three games of the postseason, the squads would meet March 7 in the sectional finals game held at Eisenhower, a neutral court.

“We’ve got a lot of things to do before we get another chance at them,” he said, “but I think they’re set up pretty good to get to the sectional finals.”

There are two pods of teams in the Eisenhower sectional. The 19 teams were split into two groups, with the group of 10 playing their regional games at Centennial and Mt. Zion while the group of nine plays its games at Springfield and Southeast. The Railers and the Generals were each tabbed as the top seed of their group in the Eisenhower sectional.

Lincoln opens postseason play February 26 at 6 PM at Springfield Southeast against the host school.

The Railers did not help their cause to start the game against MacArthur as they committed turnovers on their first three possessions of the contest. Fortunately for Lincoln, the Generals had their own offensive woes and could not capitalize. Eventually, however, the teams slowly warmed up as MacArthur opened the scoring with a field goal, followed shortly by a pullup jumper by Karson Komnick for the Railers to knot the score 2-2. The Generals built a 10-6 lead at the end of the period.

Komnick opened the second quarter taking a pass from Brady Miller in the lane and hitting the short shot while absorbing contact from a MacArthur defender. Komnick converted the conventional three-point play to pull the Railers to within a point at 10-9.

At that point, the Generals went on an 11-0 run to build a 21-9 lead. The Railers went on a 5-0 spurt of their own, but MacArthur answered with a 4-0 streak of their own. In the closing seconds of the quarter, Miller was fouled as he hit a layup on a strong drive to the basket. He did not convert the free throw, so the score stood 21-16 at the half.

The third quarter saw MacArthur really try to take the air out of the ball, sometimes sitting for more than a minute without making an attempt to get to the hoop. But eventually most times, Lincoln got a steal or a rebound and cut into the lead. The Railers got their only three pointer of the game in the quarter courtesy of Drew Hayes. Lincoln outscored MacArthur 7-3 in the quarter to trail 28-23 heading into the final frame.

When Drew Hayes hit Frank Sanders for a layup in the fourth quarter, MacArthur’s lead was cut to 32-28. But the Generals hit four of five free throws in the final period and outscored Lincoln 14-10 in the quarter to win 42-33.

Karson Komnick was the only Railer in double figures, scoring 11 points. Drew Hayes added eight points while Frank Sanders, Gabe Smith and Brady Miller tallied four points apiece. Brody Tungate tallied two points for Lincoln.

Lincoln’s next contest is February 18 when the Railers host Prairie Central on senior night. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 PM.

[Loyd Kirby]