Lincoln spoils Lanphier's big night with exciting finish in new Lober-Nika Gym

When JaiQuan Holman’s deep 3-pointer went through the net and Lanphier’s faithful saw no time remaining, the Lions’ fans stormed the court, players celebrated down to the other baseline and the Lincoln fans were stunned.

Meanwhile, the Railsplitters’ coaching staff hadn’t given up in trying to convince the three-man officiating crew that they were calling timeout with time still on the clock.

Ultimately, the officials agreed — they put 1.4 seconds on the clock before a second conference determined 2.3 seconds remained. But even with the added time, Lincoln still needed to go the length of the court to look for a game-winning shot.

Ki’on Carson obliged. He took Drew Hayes’ inbounds pass, drove inside the midcourt line and heaved a 3-pointer as he said he felt Romel Kirkwood tug on his jersey. With 0.2 seconds left, Carson was awarded three free throws, made the first two and Lanphier was unable to do anything with the final rebound.

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The Railers spoiled the maiden voyage of the new Lober-Nika Gymnasium with a 55-54 Central State Eight Conference win.

“It feels great,” Carson said. “Once I hit those two free throws, it was like, ‘This is the best time I’ve had all year.’ I wanted that chance: I’m glad coach put it in my hands; I’m glad he trusted me. It felt amazing.”

For Lincoln, it was the perfect way to renew an age-old rivalry in its first year back in the CS8.

“Coming back, first year: we love it,” Lincoln coach Neil Alexander said. “We love being back in the Central State Eight. The rivalries are what I missed more than anything and there’s nothing like this one here.”

Crazy finish

Lincoln junior Gabe Smith hit two game-tying layups in the final 2 minutes, 46 seconds. With 11 seconds left, Smith once again attacked the basket and Holman was whistled for a foul. Smith made both free throws to give Lincoln a 53-51 lead.

Lanphier coach called a timeout with 5.9 seconds left and drew up a play to get Holman a 3-point look. Holman, who finished with a game-high 23 points, buried a shot that hit only the net to kick off what turned out to be a premature celebration.

“We drew up a play and the kids executed it great,” Lanphier coach Blake Turner said. “JaiQuan hit a big shot. I told the kids we were going for the win in the new gym; we weren’t going for two (points). We didn’t think there was any time on the clock. The clock is showing all zeroes, the clock’s not supposed to stop on a made shot so I don’t know how (Lincoln) got 2.3 on the clock.”

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Hayes had a flashback to Nov. 24 when Belleville Althoff hit a 3 in the waning seconds and the officials didn’t award Lincoln a final timeout. Althoff won that game 37-35.

“I was just devastated in such a game like that,” Hayes said. It already happened against us earlier in the year. Tonight, we got our chance and we executed.”

Once Lanphier administration was able to corral the fans off the court and the officials decided on how much time remained, Drew Hayes inbounded the ball to Carson. Turner wanted his defenders to force a Lincoln player to catch the ball going toward Hayes so Lanphier could foul and make Lincoln inbound the ball again with even less time on the clock.

But Carson sprinted toward Hayes, curled back toward his team’s offensive end and Hayes led Carson with a perfect pass. Carson briefly missed the dribble but got it under control, took another dribble on the move and gathered for the desperation shot. The officials immediately blew the whistle to indicate a foul.

“I’ve not seen anything like it,” Alexander said of the finish. “They ran a great set, I’d like to think we ran a great set. It’s unfortunate the game had to end like it did but that’s why you play them and you never know.

“The officials are doing their best. We were on them; Blake was on them. This was a great atmosphere and this is an unbelievable place; it’s going to serve them well.”

Carson calmly pulled Lincoln into a 54-54 tie with his first free throw before giving the Railers the final lead with his second.

“(Kirkwood) was definitely pulling on my jersey; it’s alright though,” Carson said. “I felt it but coach said if I have (the ball), use my speed, get up there and try to get something off. Even if I didn’t have a shot, I could look and try to pass it but I felt him pulling so I just threw it.”

Carson could’ve purposely missed the third free throw. With 0.2 seconds, all a player has time for is a tip. But he smiled and admitted he was trying to make it but said, “it worked out.”

Balanced Railers

Carson led Lincoln (13-5 overall, 5-1 CS8) with 14 points while Hayes scored 13 on 6-for-8 shooting. He hit a corner 3 midway through the fourth to give Lincoln a 45-44 lead.

The Railers only made four 3s — three from Trey Schilling, who finished with 11 points. The bulk of Lincoln’s offense — 32 points — came from attacking the rim. Smith had 12 points and made all four of his free throws — including those with 11 seconds left.

“Those probably were (the biggest of his life) but we practice them all the time so I felt comfortable in the situation to knock them down,” Smith said.

Smith has a flat shot on his free throws and while he said his coaches are trying to get him to add more arch to his shot, it didn’t matter on Friday.

“Gabe Smith was a major help in this game; he was getting to the bucket,” Carson said. “Trey Schilling hit a couple of 3s; Drew hit a big 3 in the corner. (Hayes) doesn’t shoot them a lot ... I can count on him to make one every once in a while so I’m glad he made one tonight.”

There were nine ties and nine lead changes. It was a game for the ages.

“We don’t ever want to lose,” Turner said. “It’s a great game to open the gym to; it’s the energy we want, it’s the effort we want from our kids.

“Being (an undisciplined) basketball team just catches up to you: down the stretch, we had several mistakes that cost us. I don’t like to say that one play cost us but we didn’t execute the game plan coming out of that last timeout. Our guy went for the steal instead of keeping his guy in front of him and Carson was able to catch it over the top. I thought it was a foul on the floor — that’s a tough call right there for the officials.

“That’s a tough loss for us; tough game. I thought the kids executed great to get the lead with two seconds left and then not so great on the defensive end. Defense has been our Achilles’ heel all year.”

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Central State Eight basketball: Lincoln wins first game in new Lober-Nika Gym