|
 Finally, Coach Richmond stated simply, “You ladies win one more game
and you bring home a piece of hardware.” She repeated the statement
and smiles broke out among the fourteen girls who are all focused
and prepared to make their mark among Lady Railer basketball
history.
Wow, those smiles are infectious among this group of not only
outstanding ballplayers but simply terrific young women.
The lone senior of
the Lady Railers, Hannah Cameron, focuses on free throws during
practice.
Perhaps one of the biggest smiles comes from senior Hannah Cameron
and with good reason. As a product of Carroll Catholic School she’s
worked very hard for many years to get to this point and this
season, she is the lone senior among the team.
When asked about the week that the Lady Railers had knocking off two
powerhouses, first the defending state runner-up Rochester Lady
Rockets 50-46 and then stunning the St. Thomas More Sabers of
Champaign 53-39 to claim the sectional title, Cameron was beaming
from ear to ear. “It’s just very exhilarating. Everyone was freaking
out. We are all excited and happy. The intensity that we brought
each night just was amazing and then the crowd just really pumped us
up every night. We are really pumped going into super-sectionals
because it’s at UIS, a college school. It’s just exciting all
together,” she said.
Junior Lauren Block chimed in with her thoughts. “I think it’s the
turnaround for Lincoln basketball. We haven’t had the best record in
the past, so for us to come out here and play as well as we are,
it’s amazing. People didn’t expect us to get to where we are and I
really wanna just take home a win,” she concluded, breaking out in a
big smile.
Hailie Williams handles the ball as Kaeyln Froebe
plays defense during Friday’s drills.
Sensational sophomore Kaelyn Froebe agreed with Block that this is a
turnaround for the Lincoln Lady Railers basketball program. Busting
out in a huge grin, Froebe stated, “The whole week has been
exciting.” Referencing the win over St. Thomas More Thursday night,
Froebe, who scored 19 points in the contest, gave credit where
credit is due, “Our defense, our post players really stepped it up
and that’s what won that game - our Lincoln 1-2-2 defense.”
Coach Richmond drives
around the defenders on the way to the bucket. If memory serves
correctly…she shoots….she scores!
A defense that features Cameron, Froebe, Hailie Williams Morgan
Lolling and Grace Bossingham in the starting positions. Bossingham
also recognized the defense and the coaches as playing a huge role
in the wins. “We have to thank (coaches) Koehler and Richmond.
Koehler helps us with our defense and Richmond runs our offense.
They are both part of our wins against St. Thomas More and
Rochester.”
Koehler, meanwhile is Lincoln City Firefighter/Lady Railer assistant
coach Todd Koehler, who has a daughter Madelyn who is an up and
coming basketball player in her own right.
The current Lady Railers already have their eye on the eighth grade
talent around town and are excited about what the future holds.
Block announced, “We have quite a few incoming eighth-graders who
seem like they will step up and fit right in with this team.” The
rest of the pack chimed in with names like Madelyn Koehler (WLB),
Leah Schneider (WLB) and Brooke Kitner (CEL). “We will finally get
some height,” said Block, as the rest of the girls were heard
saying, “six-foot one, six-foot two, she’s still growing” when
talking about Schneider.
More youth on the way to join an already youthful team at the high
school level. In fact this year’s team features the lone senior,
three juniors, nine sophomores and one freshman. The future of
Lincoln Lady Railer basketball looks very good, to say the least.
But while it’s great to look ahead, the current squad is without a
doubt focused on the now, and Froebe emphasized that for tonight’s
game, “We just have to come out prepared and focused on the game.”
Leading that focus is Coach Richmond. She also has an infectious
smile, a philosophy that includes a positive attitude and a belief
in the fundamentals of the game. As she instructed the ladies on a
drill during Friday’s practice, without missing a beat, she said,
“Three lane passing, two minutes, Railer Pride.” Her athletes
quickly responded.
“This group of kids, they are just amazing,” said the coach who is
now in her fourth year at the helm. “It’s really easy to have a
positive attitude when you’re working with just such a great group
of kids that want to work hard and come in with their own positive
attitudes. They love this game and it makes it fun.”
Looking back at the sectional championship the team earned Thursday
night she offered these thoughts, “We played with them (St. Thomas
More) the whole game. They got a bucket, we got a bucket. We got a
stop and sometimes they got a stop. We played with them the whole
game.”
Then a huge smile broke out over Coach Richmond’s face, “And then it
just clicked. We got a really important steal and we got a nice
little cherry pick off Kennedy Lolling. And after that we kinda
settled in and it was like, ok, it’s time to play some Lincoln ball.
That’s what happened and it was outstanding.
The kids played their hearts out. They controlled the boards on the
offensive end so every time we put a shot up and we didn’t make it,
we were probably coming down with the board. We had 22 rebounds on
the offensive end. Especially against a big kid that (6’4 Tori McCoy
of St. Thomas More) that hustle, that heart, that’s what this team
does and that’s really exciting.”
Coach Richmond also has nothing but praise for her youthful Lady
Railers. “They are very young, but they are very mature. They’ve
been playing this game for a long time and they understand it. They
are very coachable. Because they are so coachable they learn fast
and they are willing to do what we teach them. They always had their
little own flair and that’s a fun thing to see. They all have their
own personalities. I think our offense allows for them to add their
own little spice to it and that just makes it more exciting.”
Coach Richmond, who was hired by LCHS in May 2012, has certainly
helped to raise the level of excitement within the girls basketball
program. When she arrived in town she made a commitment early on to
rebuild the Lincoln program. Nodding her head, the former point
guard and college athlete herself said, “Absolutely. I mean, I love
this game. It was really exciting to come in. The girls I had then,
they were really hard workers. It just takes time, it takes time to
build...the circulation of kids coming in and wanting to be a part
of this program. Luckily, we got this class of sophomores who went
to state. They’ve been down that road before,” she said referring to
sophomores Kennedy and Morgan Lolling, Haley Hicks, Emerie Wieber,
and Kaelyn Froebe from West Lincoln-Broadwell.
[to top of second column] |
On the line and ready
to go as Coach Richmond and Assistant Coach Koehler lead practice.
Meanwhile, Coach Richmond knows she has a special team full of hard
workers. “Hannah Cameron is an incredible leader as a senior. My
juniors are hard working and I have three this year and they are
good leaders. It’s just a really good group. You cannot ask for a
better group of kids.”
Assistant Coach Koehler agreed whole-heartedly, “They are an awesome
group of kids. They are humble and they are hungry. They are just
all-around good kids, in the classroom and on the court.”
Koehler, who has been the Lady Railer’s assistant coach for three
years, also knows the path these ladies have taken to get to this
point. “For years and years, they won about four games a year. The
last three years we’ve done pretty good....over .500. Then this
group came along. Hannah Cameron....she’s been through the whole
thing and she’s a good leader. She’s watched this program grow. As a
freshman, the team didn’t do well and she played varsity. Her
sophomore year they got a little better. Then last year they did
real well and then this year the story pretty much writes itself.
She’s been through the whole thing and she’s a Carroll kid,” he
smiled.
Koehler also gave credit to another person who has been very
instrumental in the success of this youthful group. “I gotta tell
you another thing,” he said, “Kari Froebe...what she accomplishes
out at West Lincoln is amazing. She’s gotten these kids ready. These
kids are ready to go by the time they hit high school. She’s got a
great program out there. She starts them very young. These West
Lincoln girls start playing out there when they are in second grade.
She does an awesome job with them and that’s a big part of changing
this program.”
Koehler also noted this about Richmond, “Coach Richmond... she
organizes things well and the kids like her. It’s about the kids and
that’s how we like to keep things. She’s intense and the kids strive
off that and they play hard off that. We kinda brought an old-school
Lincoln basketball thing back to here. The intensity of Lincoln
basketball has now come to the girls level so it’s fun to watch and
they’re a great group of kids to be around. Straight up hard work.”
Since old-school Lincoln basketball came up, let’s catch up on a
little “recent” history of the Lady Railers in context to these
girls.
The 2015-16 Lady Railers noted that it had been 10 years since a
regional championship and the last state appearance for a Lady
Railer basketball team was in 1999. Some of these girls on the team
were not even born yet while several were still in diapers.
Grace Bossingham, a junior, had a connection to one of those players
on the 1999 state team. Her aunt, Angie Bossingham Eskra, was one of
the stars of the team. Meanwhile, the girls mentioned Kristina Cook,
who is one of the assistant coaches on this Lady Railer staff and
who was also an important part of that state team.
When the topics of Lady Railers basketball history, the current Lady
Railers love for the game of basketball, and what the game teaches
you both on and off the court came up, team leader Cameron offered
these simple, yet very meaningful, words of wisdom, “We have a quote
on the team that both of our coaches came up with and it’s “Stay
Humble, Stay Hungry.” So we are planning on doing that for the next
game and hopefully more games, if we play hard.”
Last, but not least, Railer Nation needs to be spotlighted. The Lady
Railers give much credit to the enthusiasm and support of the fans -
perhaps the best student section around!
The ringleader of the group is Ryan Thomas and he does an amazing
job leading the charge of cheers and organizing the dress-up themes.
For tonight’s game the students plan on wearing white while parents
are encouraged to wear green. The opposing team is red, so take note
of that. However, according Thomas, “With it being so deep into the
tourney, some people have superstitions, so fans can wear green or
red.”
Regardless of what color Railer Nation will be sporting tonight, you
can bet the fans will show up in full force and the Lady Railers
will be grateful for the support.
Coach Richmond added her appreciation, “I am very thankful for all
the fans that came out to support us against St. Thomas More,
against Rochester and throughout the rest of this season. It’s a fun
group to watch and I think that the people that have come to see us
feel that same way. They have fun when they watch them. It’s always
exciting.”
Maybe beginning to choke up a bit, Richmond concluded with, “I
couldn’t be more proud of my girls. They always reach for the stars
and I love that about them.”
Lady Railers, you’ve made the entire community proud and we thank
you. Now tonight, it’s offense, defense, Railer Pride!
Tonight’s game is at 7:00 p.m. at the University of Illinois at
Springfield. The Lady Railers (22-12) will take on Highland for the
Super-Sectional Championship.
Special note: Congratulations to Hailie Williams, who advances to
the state 3-point shooting contest this Friday at Redbird Arena.
Williams made 9 of 15 shots to advance to state competition.
The 2015-16 Lady Railers listed with year in high school and grade
school attended:
Hannah Cameron - Senior - Carroll Catholic
Lauren Block - Junior - Chester-East Lincoln
Hailie Williams - Junior - Lincoln Zion Lutheran
Megan Joseph - Junior - West Lincoln-Broadwell
Grace Bossingham - Sophomore - Lincoln Junior High
Julianne Funk - Sophomore - Mount Pulaski Zion Lutheran
Ruth Lessen - Sophomore - Mount Pulaski Zion Lutheran
Katie Hunsley - Sophomore - Lincoln Zion Lutheran
Jennifer Huynh - Sophomore - Carroll Catholic
Morgan Lolling - Sophomore - West Lincoln-Broadwell
Kennedy Lolling - Sophomore - West Lincoln-Broadwell
Haley Hicks - Sophomore - West Lincoln-Broadwell
Emerie Wieber - Sophomore - West Lincoln-Broadwell
Kaelyn Froebe - Sophomore - West Lincoln-Broadwell
Emma Konczyk - Freshman - West Lincoln-Broadwell
Manager Rachel Lockenour - Senior - Lincoln Zion Lutheran
Lady Railers Coaching Staff:
Head Coach Taylor Richmond - West Aurora High School, Central
Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri and graduate of Northern
Illinois University with a degree in Physical Education
Assistant Coach Todd Koehler - Lincoln Community High School
Junior Varsity Coach Kristina Cook - Lincoln Community High School,
Lincoln Christian College and Seminary
Freshman Coach Ashley Paulus - Lincoln Community High School,
University of Illinois
It’s worth noting that, as mentioned previously, some of the girls
from West Lincoln-Broadwell have state tournament experience and
thanks to Lynn Paulus for providing this information:
2012 Second Place 7-1A
2013 Third Place 8-1A
2014 First Place 7-1A
Final Note: Railers Head Coach Neil Alexander has always been a
class act. While his team plays at home tonight in the opening round
of the regional tournament against Clinton at 7:30 p.m. he is
encouraging fans to go support the girls in their game at UIS. Just
another classy move by Coach Al. In fact, Lady Railer senior Hannah
Cameron tweeted out, “So much love and respect towards Coach Al, he
is a true role model and great man.”
Good luck to both the girls and boys basketball teams tonight!
[Teena Lowery]
 |
293.JPG)
