Reek Picnic
Basketball 2009-10

  Tyreek "Reek" Wanamaker, a transfer from Olney, is a senior at Lincoln with an interest in sports and journalism. He'd like to see every Pub school have a writer contributing to this site, but in lieu of that . . he'll keep an eye on the Railsplitters. We thank Reek for joining our ever-wacky group.
  Tyreek may be reached at reek650@yahoo.com.


JAN. 30
ARE THE "BIG THREE" BACK?
  Earlier in this season I had proclaimed that Ronald Rollins, Rickey Savage and Tyrone Martin were Lincoln's Equivalent of the Celtics' "Big Three" with Savage as the slashing guard, Martin as the explosive scorer and Rollins as the dominant post presence on offense and defense, and they shined early on in the season. But as of late the only player who has been having success is the F Martin, and even he has had a slump where he had failed to get into the double digits in points. G Rickey Savage had been struggling due to bad execution and a lack of ball  movement on offense and the lack of plays made on defense. Rollins had struggled to get open looks in the paint because of bad protection by the guards and some unnecessary fouls and some whistles by the refs -- i.e., Thursday his fifth foul was picked up on a play where he had clearly not committed a foul. Martin's struggles were partially his fault. Martin, who is an excellent shooter when open, had grown into the tendency to fade away on all his shots and not follow after misses which led to a big drop in second chance points.
    Those struggles peaked against Germantown, a game that might have turned out to be one of this team's most important. Though the 'Splitters lost it may be the best thing to happen to them, since the Germantown loss the Splitters are 2-2 including a strong showing against George Washington in which Martin scored a team and personal high of 35 points, helping the team get back from down 23 in the 4th, and Thursday's strong showing against Kensington. Those two games were needed to boost the morale of a team that has sometimes showed flickers of greatness. Team chemistry is still up and down but things might be coming together if the scoring of Savage and Martin becomes consistent and with defensive play of Rollins and F- Kendrick Barnes can come on at the same time.
    Against 2-5 Kensington the Railsplitters seemed to get things under control, scoring off the opening tipoff with a Savage layup followed by a Rollins block. The first quarter belonged to Tyrone Martin offensively as he dropped six of his nineteen points, including a smooth fade-away jumper from the foul line. Rollins was a force defensively, putting up three blocks to keep the game close early ending the first down 16-19.
    The 'Splitters picked it up in the 2nd starting the quarter off with a Rollins steal. Savage showed his speed on a fastbreak layup off of a steal of his own, splitting two defenders and finishing strong, something that the splitters have been lacking. Rollins dominated the boards picking up 5 Rebs. including 3 offensive that all lead to scores giving the splitters a 32-26 lead at the end of the 2nd.
    Martin turned it on again in the 2nd half hitting a 3 pointer off an inbound pass from Kendrick Barnes he would later scoring twice by tipping in missed free throws.
    All three of this teams stars put up big numbers in this one as the splitters pulled off a 68-53 win. Savage quitley scored 23 points, 2 assists and 1 steal. Rollins and Martin dominated the boards picking up 8 and 11 respectively, Rollins finished with 8 points and Martin added another double double with 18 points.

JAN. 19
IDENTITY CRISIS
 
This year's Lincoln Railsplitters ball team is on of the most enigmatic I've seen in a while. Tuesday's game versus George Washington showed what these guys could achieve if they worked hard and believed they could win. Tyrone Martin's 35 points and 20 rebounds were all created by the hustle and determination of G Najhir Robinson on the defensive end. The 'Splitters were out of this game late, down 20 in the 3rd. Lincoln's run started with a desperation 3 point buzzer-beater by Robinson. The 'Splitters went on a 22 to 6 run to take the lead late. Key players stepped up in that game, including G/F Isiah Porter, who scored a couple of clutch points as the golden eagles tried to keep the splitters from pulling off the upset. G Jack Ferguson had another great game, scoring ten points to help the 'Splitters to a 80-75 win.
    If you were to compare the team that upset G-dub to the one that stepped onto the court later in the week against Frankford, you'd think that you were watching an entirely different team out there. This is already a turnover prone team but in most games they balance their turnovers with good defensive play on the other end. It seemed to me that the 'Splitters didn't want to win in a game that would have definitely helped this team's morale, even if they'd just stayed kept things competitive. From the beginning things seemed to be going well for the Railsplitters as they were in the game midway through the first. But after a few missed shots the game just slipped away. Frankford outmuscled, outfinessed and flat outplayed the Railsplitters.
    Most of the problems that plague the 'Splitters showed themselves in this game. Bad transition D and terrible shot selection took them out of a game that they had a real chance of winning. It seemed to me like some of the players on this team were just afraid of the name Frankford and played with that fear. The 'Splitters had all of the advantages you could ask for: home court, momentum, and the Pioneers had just cut one of their main post players. Everything looked to be in Lincoln's favor, but the team just didn't play hard when it mattered. The Pioneers are a team that strikes fear into the hearts of the teams they play not because they're physical or even because of talent level -- people fear them because of tradition and a win against a team of their stature would have made most teams think twice about sleeping on the Railsplitters. Oh, well, another missed opportunity.
    Once again I will say this. This Railsplitters team can be great IF this team can play with the same intensity and chemistry they showed against G-Dub. But as a fan you have to ask yourself what Lincoln team will you get, Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?

JAN. 11
MAKE OR BREAK TIME
 
If, at the onset of this season, you thought that the Lincoln Railsplitters would struggle with only one starter from their previous team, you were right. This year's team is underachieving and to tell the truth, there's no excuse. Last Wednesday's game against Germantown was terrible for a boatload of reasons, but most notably because this is a team with a whole lot of talent and little oncourt leadership. In both of their games last week, the 'Splitters seemed pressed to make a play in situations where it wasn't called for, forcing bad passes and even worse shots. Their one leader on the floor, Guard Rickey Savage, cant do it by himself. Forwards Tyrone Martin and Ronald Rollins are stars who have to mesh together to help get things under control while this season is still salvageable. This team is in panic mode and they are counting themselves out before the show even begins.
    Another big problem for this team is its lack of using its bench depth to its advantage. G/F Jack Ferguson snapped for 10 points and a lot of big steals in the last game and he has to be looked on for more playing time. He brings a different energy to this team and meshes well with Savage in clutch situations. Guard Nahjir Robinson should also be another guy who should be pushing for more playing time, possibly with him and Savage alternating between the 1 and 2. Robinson shows the leadership capability that the team needs and is a player that other players on the court could look to for oncourt inspiration. He is an excellent jump shooter and a smart, fast player that, along with Savage, would open up the paint for more big plays by Martin and Rollins. Two players who also need more playing time are F/C Marquise Revere and G/F Desjohn Wade. Revere can play both Forward positions and Center and can be an excellent sub for Rollins when he gets in foul trouble. Wade is another player with a great jump shot and could be an excellent spot up shooter out if combined with the passing of Savage and Robinson.
    This team also needs help from its fan base. Most young players, both high school and college, feed off the energy provided by the crowd and that element just hasn't been there for this team. In the game versus Mastbaum the bleachers were packed with screaming fans, but since then it's like no one has enthusiasm for this team anymore. Players and the school's faculty need to find a way to get more fans in the seats. One possibility is to have a few games feature free admission just to get more people to want to come. And the cheerleaders need to show more enthusiasm.
    All of this team's problems are minor and correctable, but every one of them can snowball into bigger problems and that's not what this team needs. Tomorrow's game at Washington will be big in getting momentum for the rest of the season. The 'Splitters aren't in a win or nothing situation but they have to at least keep the game close to help rebuild this team's morale.

DEC. 14
NON-LEAGUE
Lincoln 85, Lincoln 61
  What's better than your first home game in a new stadium? How 'bout a decisive win against a talented opponent. Lincoln opened its first season, after a disappointing 2-15 record, with a guard driven Mastbaum team that is also coming off a disappointing season. The inexperienced Railsplitters needed someone to step into the spotlight and take over on a team that brought back one starter from last year's team, PG David "White Boy" Burkhart, and step they did. Two guard Rickey Savage, F Tyrone Martin, and C Ronald Rollins led the team in scoring and could possibly be this team's "Big Three".   
    Savage started the game off hot, scoring 8 of the 'Splitters' first 10 and adding 2 more assists in the opening six minutes, thus putting the 'Splitters up, 15-6. The Panthers' own star guard, Juwan Morrison, lit it up and gave the Panthers a chance to take the lead after a Burkhart turnover and were up 24-19 at the end of the first. Lincoln's up-tempo offense overpowered the Panthers and went on a 12-2 run led by the defense of Rollins and the speed of Savage. Martin's turn came late in the 2nd scoring 4 of his 10 points and gaining 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Fouls hurt the Railsplitters late, but were kept in the game by the stubborn defensive play of Martin and Rollins and the offensive play of Savage as the two teams went to the half tied at 37.  
    Lincoln's D took over early in the third. Martin continued his stiff defensive, getting a block and a steal in the opening of the 3rd. Savage got into the thievery with two more steals that led to 9 consecutive Lincoln points and a 46-37 in the first 1:48 of the quarter. But once again Mastbaum fought back. Morrison once again got hot, striking jumpshot after jumpshot to bring his team within six with 30 seconds left. But bad shot selection and outstanding rebounding closed this game out as the 'Splitters wound up crushing the Panthers.