Lincoln overcomes 3rd-quarter
deficit to defeat Lanphier, 35-31
[January 10, 2026]
SPRINGFIELD – After his team’s Tuesday night win over Decatur
Eisenhower, he said, despite the disparity in the teams’ records,
the Railers’ upcoming game on January 9 against Lanphier would be a
close one.
“It doesn’t matter [what the team] records [are] when the Lanphier-Lincoln
game is played,” Alexander said. “It’s a rivalry. They’re probably
.500 maybe, but they’ve had some injuries. But they’re getting back
some strength. We’re going to have to have one of our better
performances to go down there and pick one [win] up. It should be an
exciting game.”
Head Coach Neil Alexander
If this basketball coaching thing doesn’t work out for Railer head
coach Neil Alexander, he might consider becoming a fortune teller,
as Lincoln saw a seven point second-quarter lead evaporate and had
to come back from a four point third-quarter deficit to beat the
Lions 35-31.
The Railers found themselves down early as Lanphier raced out to an
early 5-0 lead. But Lincoln outscored the host school 9-4 in the
remainder of the quarter to hold a 9-8 advantage heading into the
second period.
Tate Aue
Lincoln opened the frame with a 5-0 run of its own, as Tate Aue hit
a three-pointer on the first Railer possession and Karson Komnick
made a field goal a couple possessions later for LCHS to extend
Lincoln’s lead to 14-8.
The pair of baskets sandwiched a nice defensive play by Bryce
Vlahovich as Lanphier was advancing the ball upcourt on a fast
break. While a Lions player drove to the hoop, Vlahovich stepped in
his path and drew an offensive foul against Lanphier.
The Lions went on a 5-0 run to make the score 14-13. Lincoln
answered with a 6-0 run to extend its lead to seven points before
Demond Porter hit a jumper in the lane just before halftime to make
the score 20-15.
The third quarter scoring began with a basket by Lanphier. Then
Komnick was fouled and made a pair of free throws for the Railers to
build their lead back to 22-17. Those would be Lincoln’s only points
of the period, however, as Lanphier held the Railers scoreless for
the remainder of the stanza. The Lions took advantage of the Railers’
cold shooting to mount a comeback, and when Kaimen Smith made a
three-pointer with just over a minute remaining in the period, that
made the score 24-22 heading into the fourth quarter and gave the
Lions their first lead since the opening period.
There are major rivalries in every sport. Cubs versus Cardinals.
Bears versus Packers. Duke versus North Carolina. The two-point
difference heading into the fourth quarter intensified this Lincoln-Lanphier
rivalry matchup the feel, and fans knew the teams would play their
hardest in the final period to secure a victory. Breon McKinnie
drove the ball to the basket on Lincoln’s first possession of the
final frame but missed the layup. Komnick was there to snag the
rebound and hit the putback shot to knot the score 24-all. The teams
traded baskets to make the score 26-26. Tate Aue then went into
beast mode for the Railers, making a steal on defense to give
Lincoln possession, then hitting a long three-pointer just a
foot-length from the volleyball 10-foot line to regain the lead for
LCHS, 29-26.
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But this is a rivalry game, and as Coach Alexander alluded to with
his comments Tuesday night, it is traditionally a close, intense
game throughout. So just when Railer fans perhaps exhaled in relief
following Aue’s trey, it was fitting that Kaimen Smith nailed a
three-pointer for the Lions to tie the game again, this time at
29-29.
Karson Komnick
The tie did not stand for long, however, as Smith was slapped with a
technical foul for taunting, as he appeared to have a few words to
say to nearby Lincoln defender McKinnie after hitting the shot.
Komnick made both free throws Lincoln was awarded, then the Railer
senior hit a field goal on the ensuing Railer possession to stretch
the Lincoln lead to 33-29. Lanphier got another field goal and
Lincoln hit two of four free throws down the stretch to make the
final score 35-31 in favor of Lincoln.
“They did a nice job defensively,” Alexander said of Lanphier
following the game. “We had a hard time finding some shots, but we
found them when we had to.”
Lincoln has had a difficult time putting points on the board this
season. The team is averaging just under 45 points per game
offensively, and although the Railers have won 10 of their last 11
games, their offense has trended downward in those 11 contests,
scoring 41.2 points per game.
The Railer defense, however, has helped negate any shortcomings on
offense. Lincoln has given up 39.6 points per game this season, and
the pesky defense has only allowed 36.5 points per game while
winning 10 of the last 11 games.
After adding Win No. 992 to his career victory total, Alexander was
at a loss for words in trying to analyze Lincoln’s offensive
performance.
“We have a game where we score one or two points in a quarter, and
that shouldn’t be,” he said. “I don’t know what it is….focus? It’s
the same offense. I told them [the Railers] I don’t want to score
33, I want to score 63.
“It’s like they just wait around. I think they’re trying to kill
their coach.”
Komnick led Lincoln with 16 points. Aue added nine, Brody Tungate
scored seven, Vlahovich tallied two and McKinnie hit a free throw
for one point.
Lincoln shot 41.4 percent (12 of 29) from the floor, including four
of 12 (33.3 percent) on three-point attempts. The Railers were
outrebounded by Lanphier 20-17.
The victory improves Lincoln’s overall record to 14-3 and gives the
Railers a 5-1 mark in the Central State 8 Conference. Lanphier drops
to 5-11 overall and 3-3 in CS8 play.
Lincoln returns home for a pair of non-conference contests, hosting
LaSalette Academy on Saturday in a 7:30 PM varsity game and
Mahomet-Seymour on Tuesday in a 7 PM varsity matchup. Junior varsity
games start 90 minutes before both varsity contests.
[Loyd Kirby]
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