Railers get ‘out-toughed’ in 45-42
CS8 loss to Rochester
[December 10, 2025]
ROCHESTER -- It had been 11 days since Rochester Rockets
football team played for the IHSA state championship, but the Rocket
basketball team looked as if it hadn’t missed a beat Tuesday night
as Rochester picked up its first win of the season in defeating
Lincoln 45-42.
Tate Aue
Tate Aue opened the scoring for the Railers with a 3-pointer, only
for Kai Bruce of Rochester to answer back with a trey for the
Rockets, knotting the score 3-3. The sequence turned out to be a
preview for the game, as throughout the night, one team would take a
lead only to be surpassed by the other. The game had seven lead
changes and the score was tied six times.
Speaking of tie scores, the score was even at 10-10 as time wound
down in the first quarter, but Khorbin Gregory hit a last-second
putback field goal after a rebound underneath to give Rochester a
12-10 advantage.
Breon McKinnie
The Rockets then surged out to an 18-12 lead in the second quarter,
but Lincoln rallied to trail 20-18 with 1:37 remaining in the
period. The Railers worked for a last shot on their final possession
of the half, and Breon McKinnie hit a buzzer-beating jumper to knot
the score 20-20 at halftime.
The second half began in similar fashion as the first half, as the
two teams again traded three-point field goals. Lincoln outscored
Rochester 14-8 in the stanza to lead 34-28 heading into the fourth
quarter.
However, the Rockets opened the final frame by outscoring Lincoln
11-2 to take a 39-36 lead. Lincoln’s Bryce Vlahovich knotted the
score 39-all with a three-pointer with under three minutes
remaining.
Rochester’s Nate Swaney was fouled as he drove in for a layup for
the Rockets’ next score. He completed the three-point play for a
42-39 Rochester lead.
The Rockets would never trail again as Rochester sealed the win from
the free throw line. Khorbin Gregory hit one of two from the line
for the Rockets before Brody Tungate completed a three-point play to
make the score 43-42.
Khordell Gregory hit two free throws with 13 seconds remaining to
put the Rockets ahead 45-42. A desperation shot by Komnick near
midcourt fell short, and Rochester escaped with a 45-42 win.
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Even though Rochester entered the game with an 0-4 record, Railer
head coach Neil Alexander said he knew Rochester would have a good
team this season.
“They were more physical and more hungry than what we were,” he
said. “I picked Rochester to be one of the Top 3 teams in the league
by the time it’s said and done. They’ve still got a couple guys that
are out because of football injuries.
“But this was a very winnable game for us, and we just got
‘out-toughed.’”
Brody Tungate
Brody Tungate led Lincoln in scoring with 14 points. Tate Aue added
nine, Karson Komnick and Bryce Vlahovick each scored eight.
Vlahovich led Lincoln with 10 rebounds.
Kai Bruce hit four three-pointers for the Rockets to lead Rochester
with 12 points.
From a numbers standpoint, the statistics of Lincoln’s performance
were decent. The Railers shot 40.5 percent from the field (15 of
37), including five of 14 (35.7 percent) on three-pointers. The
Rockets hit 16 of 40 field goal attempts and only 35.7 percent (six
of 22) on treys.
After the Railers were outrebounded in their previous game, the
squad improved to grab 25 boards against Rochester while limiting
the Rockets to 21 rebounds.
The loss drops Lincoln to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the Central State
8. Rochester improves to 1-4 and 1-1 in league play.
Lincoln travels to Chatham for a Central State 8 Conference contest
against Glenwood on Friday at 7 PM. Then on Saturday, the Railers
host Belleville West for the rescheduled championship game of the
Eaton Thanksgiving Tournament on Saturday. A JV game has been added
and will begin at 5 PM. The championship game between the varsity
squads will start at 6:30 PM.
[Loyd Kirby]
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