Railer basketball season ends with
32-30 loss in sectional semifinal thriller
[March 06, 2025]
DECATUR – A last-second desperation shot from half court fell
short for the LCHS boys basketball team, ending the Railers’
basketball season with a 32-30 loss to Mt. Zion in the sectional
semifinals at Eisenhower High School.
“I was worried about being able to score enough, because they [Mt.
Zion] are an offensive machine,” Lincoln head coach Neil Alexander
said after the game. “Our defense held them to 32 points, but you
need to be able to score more than 30 points.”
The Braves jumped out to an early 6-0 advantage before Drew Hayes
halved Mt. Zion’s lead with a three-pointer. The teams traded scores
a couple times before Karson Komnick hit a trey at the 1:47 mark of
the quarter, slicing the Mt. Zion lead to 11-10 through the end of
the period.
Gabe Smith opened the second frame by hitting Frank Sanders
underneath with a nice entry pass; Sanders hit the shot to give
Lincoln its first lead in the game as 12-11. Three minutes later,
Hayes hit a jumper in the lane to increase the lead to 14-11. But
the Braves got six unanswered points in the last four minutes of the
period to build a 17-14 halftime advantage.
Gabe Smith
In the second half, the Railers generally kept pace with Mt. Zion,
keeping the score close but never actually being able to overtake
the Braves. Senior Gabe Smith hit the shot after making a nice drive
to the hoop to open the second half scoring and pull the Railers to
within a point at 17-16. But Mt. Zion scored the next three points
to stave off the threat and build a four-point advantage. Karson
Komnick then hit a three-pointer to enliven the Railer fans in
attendance and pull Lincoln back to within a point at 20-19. The
Braves outscored Lincoln 4-2 over the next two minutes to hold a
24-21 advantage.
While a game is ultimately decided by the many plays occurring
throughout the course of the contest, the next sequence seemed to
knock the Railers back on their heels.
With the score 24-21 and 30 seconds remaining in the third period,
Lincoln ran its offense and looked for gap in the Mt. Zion defense,
but the Braves snagged an errant Railer pass. Mt. Zion got the ball
quickly ahead to Sammy Driscoll, who drove to the basket for a
layup. Lincoln’s Brody Tungate stood in Driscoll’s path, and as the
pair made contact when the Braves’ guard took his shot, the
officials called a blocking foul on Tungate. Driscoll hit the pair
of free throws he was awarded, and Mt. Zion inched ahead 26-21 going
into the final quarter.
“I thought we had one call that really changed the outcome, and that
was the charge that Tungate took,” Alexander said. “That [call] was
about as easy as you can get. In a game like this, it ends up being
a big call; I didn’t think there was any question about it.
“The out official, he was going to call a charge. And then the
underneath one, he changed it to a block. Those are the ones that
are really irritating.”
Mt. Zion’s J.C. Anderson hit the first basket of the final period to
widen the Braves’ lead to 28-21. After several empty possessions by
both teams, Komnick hit a field goal to pull Lincoln to within five
points. After Jacob Harvey hit a free throw for Mt. Zion, Komnick
struck again, hitting a three-pointer to draw Lincoln closer at
29-26.
With under a minute remaining, the Braves got a pair of free throws
from Lyncoln Koester before Hayes hit one for the Railers to make
the score 31-27. Koester was fouled again with nine seconds left; he
made one of two free throws to increase Mt. Zion’s lead to 32-27.
But Komnick drained a contested jumper from beyond the arc to make
the score 32-30 with four seconds left.
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Head Coach Neil Alexander
After a Railer timeout, Lincoln fouled Driscoll once Mt. Zion
inbounded the ball. Driscoll missed the first free throw. After
another Lincoln timeout, Driscoll’s second attempt from the charity
stripe bounced off the rim. Sanders secured the ball and fired it to
Komnick near midcourt. The Railer junior spun, took one dribble and
let the shot attempt fly, but it fell just short of the rim, and the
Braves won 32-30.
“Everything we did there down the stretch was perfect,” Alexander
said. “We were able to force some turnovers. 2.7 [seconds
remaining]….you’re not going to be able to get a much better shot
than what we got there.”
Mt. Zion was led in scoring by Koester with 14 points. The Braves
advance to the sectional championship game Friday, where they will
face Glenwood. The Titans advanced after beating Champaign Central
in overtime in the Tuesday semifinal contest.
Karson Komnick
Komnick led all players with 16 points. Seniors Frank Sanders and
Drew Hayes each scored six points while fellow senior Gabe Smith
added a field goal for two points.
The loss ends Lincoln’s season with a 23-11 overall record, an
impressive achievement given that the team’s record hovered around
the .500 mark at 10-8 following a mid-January loss to Quincy. But
Lincoln went on to win its next 10 games and 13 of its final 16
contests to win 20 or more games for the 25th time under Alexander.
In addition to a more healthy, fuller roster of available players
finally being available, a major key in the Railers’ resurgence was
a stingy defense. In the final 16 games of the season, Lincoln gave
up an average of 32.1 points per game. In addition, the Railers held
opponents to less than 30 points in five of their final 16 contests.
“I’m just really proud of the kids,” Alexander said. “It’s been a
long season with everything that they’ve gone through, and the
coaches, and trying to put things together. But we did get it the
last month to where we thought it’d be for the whole year. They’re a
great bunch of kids, they work hard, and there’s a lot of tears in
there [the locker room] right now.”
[Loyd Kirby]
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