Sacred Heart-Griffin defeats
Lincoln 60-46 to give Railers first loss of season
[December 03, 2025]
SPRINGFIELD -- When the final buzzer sounded, it was as if
the LCHS boys basketball team was hit by a cyclone Tuesday night. It
was not a literal cyclone, although the Railers may have felt like
it. Rather, the Railers were hit by the Sacred Heart-Griffin
Cyclones, who used some early sharp shooting along with a sustained
offensive push late in the game to pull away from Lincoln and hand
the Railers their first defeat of the season, 60-46.
If there is a silver lining to the result, it is that this contest
did not count in the Central State 8 Conference standings. Because
of the number of games allowed per season by the IHSA and the CS8
Conference having 11 member schools, not all member institutions in
the league play each other twice. Thus, for CS8 teams that face off
two times in the season, only one of those contests count in the
conference standings. Fortunately for the Railers, they face SH-G
twice this season, and it is the February 6 game in Lincoln between
the two teams that counts toward the conference standings.
So, while Lincoln certainly rather would have won its game against
the Cyclones on Monday at Sacred Heart-Griffin, the Railers can
perhaps take a bit of solace in the fact that they still are 0-0 in
the CS8 standings.
Karson Komnick
The Cyclones got on the board first Monday night with a field goal,
but the Railers responded with a pair of consecutive three pointers
from Karson Komnick and Tate Aue to take a 6-2 lead. SH-G got a trey
from Terrion Wallace before Cameron Brinkman turned two steals into
four Cyclone points with a field goal and a pair of free throws to
give SH-G a 9-6 advantage.
The Cyclones held an 18-11 lead late in the first quarter before the
Lincoln got a backdoor layup from Komnick to slice the SH-G lead to
18-13 heading into the second quarter.
The teams shot fairly evenly through the second period, with SH-G
leading 34-26 as time was winding down in the period. Lincoln got a
last-second jumper from Komnick that bounced off the backboard onto
the rim and then bouncing once on the hoop before falling through
the basket to draw the Railers closer at halftime, 34-28.
The third quarter started similarly to how the second period ended,
with Komnick nailing another jump shot for the Railers to pull
Lincoln within four points at 34-30.
Then Bryce Vlahovich got his only points of the contest when he
drained a three-point shot for the Railers to cut even more into the
SH-G lead, making the score 34-33.
A few plays later, the Cyclones got a steal and the Railers were a
step slow getting back on defense. SH-G made Lincoln pay as the
hosts found Daulton Best for a dunk to extend the Cyclone lead to
36-33.
Lincoln didn’t give up, as Komnick hit another field goal and
Tungate scored on a layup following a steal in the backcourt to give
the Railers their first lead since the opening frame, 37-36.
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Brody Tungate
Aue hit a two-pointer for the Railers before Brinkman hit another
three-ball for SH-G. Brody Tungate closed out the third quarter
scoring with a pair of free throws to make the score 47-41 going
into the final stanza.
From that point, however, it was essentially all Cyclones the rest
of the way. Teriek Hurd scored on a field goal before Wallace and
Brinkman hit consecutive three pointers for SH-G as the Cyclones
overtook Lincoln 44-37.
Tate Aue
Aue hit another three-pointer for the Railers before Brinkman
answered with a trey for the Cyclones. Komnick tried to rally
Lincoln with a field goal, but from that point it was all SH-G. The
Cyclones scored the final 10 points of the quarter to put the game
out of reach. After leading 37-36 near the middle of the third
quarter, Lincoln was outscored 24-9 in the remainder of the contest
as SH-G won by a final score of 60-46.
Komnick led the Railers with 17 points. Aue added 14, Tungate
notched 12 and Vlahovich hit a trey for three points.
Sacred Heart-Griffin was led by Brinkman with 21. Hurd added 18 and
Myles Montgomery scored 11 for the Cyclones.
Lincoln falls to 3-1 with the loss. The Railers next opponent is
Jacksonville on Saturday at the BOS Center in downtown Springfield
as part of the 2025 Capital City Showcase, an event featuring eight
games involving Springfield-area teams, including all 11 Central
State 8 Conference members. The first game of the day begins at 9
AM; Lincoln squares off against Jacksonville at 3 PM.
The full schedule for the event includes:
• 9 AM -- Williamsville vs. Calvary Academy
• 10:30 AM -- Porta vs. Pawnee
• Noon -- Glenwood vs. Taylorville
• 1:30 PM -- Southeast vs. Eisenhower
• 3 PM -- Jacksonville vs. Lincoln
• 4:30 PM -- Rochester vs. U-High
• 6 PM -- SHG vs. MacArthur
• 7:30 PM -- Springfield vs. Lanphier
[Loyd Kirby]
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