Railer boys basketball squad
survives, advances with 32-28 regional win over Eisenhower
[February 26, 2026]
LINCOLN – Railer basketball fans who watched the
recently-concluded Olympics might have gotten a jolt to their system
Wednesday night.
While several events in the Winter Olympic Games—such as figure
skating, snowboarding and freestyle skiing—award points to
competitors for artistic merit, basketball is not such a sport. If
it was, the Railer basketball team probably would not have earned
many points for style. However, stylish or not, when the final
buzzer sounded to end the Railers’ game against Eisenhower on
Wednesday night, Lincoln had outscored the Panthers 32-28. And that
was good enough.
“At this point in time, I don’t care if it’s high school basketball,
the NCAA, or whatever: it’s survive and advance,” LCHS head coach
Neil Alexander said after the game. “And that’s what we did today.”
The low-scoring game wasn’t a complete surprise, as Lincoln beat Ike
back on January 6 this season 32-23. In discussing their first
meeting, Alexander indicated he didn’t feel that game was a good
barometer for how Wednesday’s game would go because of where it fell
on the schedule.
Head Coach Neil Alexander
“January sixth was a ‘catch game,’” Alexander said. “You’re coming
off your holiday tournament. I know just from coaching for 50 years,
that first game after Christmas is kind of a letdown and you
struggle to get through it. We’re hoping that was the case, but we
do know that we allowed Eisenhower to feel like they could step in
and play with us.”
Some of those good vibes Eisenhower felt after the January matchup
appeared to have carried over to Wednesday’s game. Even though the
Panthers never led in the contest, the Railers never built a lead
larger than seven points. Each time it appeared Lincoln had designs
on breaking the game open, Eisenhower reached back and found a way
to stave off the Railers and stay within striking distance.
While Alexander wasn’t pleased with the Railers’ ability to carry
out their game plan, he credited the Panthers and their effort in
keeping the game close and competitive.
“We sure didn’t execute what we worked on for four days,” Alexander
said. “They [the Eisenhower Panthers] fight; they’re fighters.
They’ve got a new coach that’s putting in a system, and I’m really
impressed at what they’re doing.”
While Lincoln led from wire to wire, it never felt like any Railer
lead was comfortable and safe. Anytime LCHS wound begin to inch
ahead, Eisenhower would pull closer and be within striking distance
of capturing the lead.
Both teams shot the ball well in the first half. Eisenhower
connected on seven of its 15 field goal attempts (46.7 percent)
while the Railers made half of their attempts (eight of 16) from the
field.
Tate Aue
Lincoln got on the scoreboard first when Tate Aue hit a
three-pointer from the corner to give the Railers their first lead.
[to top of second column] |
Marcus Page hit a short shot in traffic for Eisenhower on its next
possession to make the score 3-2. And this was the general formula
for the entire game: Lincoln would ease ahead slightly, then
Eisenhower would draw close without ever catching the Railers.
As the first period drew to a close with a tie score of 7-7, Lincoln
held for the final shot of the quarter, and Brody Tungate nailed a
three-pointer seconds before the buzzer to give the Railers a 10-7
lead.
Shortly into the second frame, Eisenhower had pulled to within two
points at 12-10 when Karson Komnick made a nifty pass to dump the
ball underneath to an open Bryce Vlahovich. Vlahovich hit the short
jumper to extend the Railer lead to 14-10.
The Railers would go on to outscore Eisenhower by a total of 11-9 in
the period, giving LCHS a 21-16 halftime lead.
Brody Tungate
The Panthers scored the first four points of the second half to make
it a one-point game as 21-20. But Komnick was fouled while sinking a
shot on a strong drive to the basket to give LCHS a 23-20 advantage.
A few minutes later, Tungate scored on a strong drive to the hoop to
give Lincoln a 25-20 lead. And when Tungate hit a pair of free
throws a short time later, he gave the Railers their largest lead of
the night at 27-20 heading into the final quarter.
But as the Railer offense sputtered, Eisenhower found life as
Khamari Dennis hit two consecutive three-pointers for the Panthers,
making the score 27-26.
Komnick gave LCHS a little breathing room as he made a reverse layup
to extend the Railer advantage to 29-26. But in the next Eisenhower
possession, Page grabbed an offensive rebound and hit the putback
shot to cut the Railer lead to 29-28.
But Lincoln hit its free throws down the stretch to pull out the
victory. Komnick sunk one free throw with about 30 seconds
remaining, then Tungate iced the game with a pair of makes from the
charity stripe to give LCHS a 32-28 lead with under 10 seconds
remaining. Eisenhower managed to get one desperation shot off, but
it missed the mark, Lincoln grabbed the rebound, and the Railers
held on for a 32-28 victory.
Tungate led Lincoln with 13 points. Komnick added 11, Vlahovich
scored four points, Aue notched three points and Brett Hayes made a
free throw for one point.
Page led Eisenhower with 10 points.
The win gives Lincoln a 25-7 record and advances the Railers to the
regional finals game against Springfield. LCHS hosts the Senators
for the regional title game on Friday at 7 PM in Roy S. Anderson
Gymnasium.
Eisenhower ends its season with a 6-21 record.
[Loyd Kirby]
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