"A great day to be a Railer"
Lincoln Lady Railers take down SHG in double overtime

[February 05, 2017]   “It was a great day. We had a great day,” Lady Railers Assistant Coach Todd Koehler emphasized the “we” when talking about Saturday’s double wins, one of which was in double overtime, at Sacred Heart-Griffin.

In the JV contest the Lady Railers had little trouble handing the SHG squad, which appeared to be heavy with Juniors on the roster, a 52-33 loss.

Whereas in the Varsity game, it was a battle that lasted not one, but two overtimes. The end result, a 54-49 Lincoln victory, that was oh so sweet for the Lady Railers.

Those “Splash Sisters” - Kaelyn Froebe and Kennedy Lolling - were at it again Saturday afternoon. Nailing threes from the top of the key like it was nothing. The game went into the first overtime because Kennedy Lolling hit a three to tie the game at 42-42. Her shot actually hit the back of the rim and took a bounce a couple feet in the air and came down right through the hoop.

SHG had the ball with 2.5 seconds remaining and the chance to win, but that shot bounced off the backboard, off the rim and to OT we go.

So as the first OT was winding down, with SHG leading 48-45, it was Kaelyn Froebe dribbling down-court and swishing a three from the top of the key as time expired, sending Lincoln fans into a frenzy! With the game tied 48-48 the Lincoln crowd, bench and coaches were pumped and ready for more basketball.

Assistant Coach Koehler, with a bird’s eye view from the bench, tells the story of how Lincoln went on to defeat a much taller SHG team. In a phone interview late Saturday night, Koehler was still pumped up and explained the day’s events like this, “Kennedy hit the three to put it in the first overtime. We had to play some defense after that.

"At the end of the first overtime we thought we were done and we were out of timeouts. We ended up fouling and that put us down by three with 7.7 seconds left.

We got Kaelyn and Kennedy’s attention and they came over to the bench and Coach Richmond drew up just a quick “down the floor and quick shot” play real quick and I’ll be danged if it didn’t work.

Kaelyn hit a three at the top of the key to send it into double overtime. The kids went crazy. Kaelyn dribbled pretty much the length of the floor to the top of the key and she nailed it. Anyway that sent us into double overtime.”

Koehler also praised the Lady Railer defense that held SHG. “Overall I would say the kids played ridiculously good defense. I mean they just played some great defense today.”

Continuing with the story, Koehler said, “In double overtime Bossingham fouled out and Leah (Schneider) went in. Leah had a bucket and then they sent us to the line and Kaelyn hit a couple free throws that put us up by five.

"Then the kids just played great defense, got a couple rebounds and it just went from there. We ended up winning by five.

"Kaelyn sealed it with those free throws at the end. Morgan was fouled in the open court and she also hit a free throw.”

Koehler also noted the Lady Railers were in double bonus. “Every time we play them we are in double bonus. Both halves,” he said. Apparently SHG has plenty of players to spare so foul trouble does not seem to be an issue.

At any rate the Lady Railers took advantage, especially Froebe who hit 14 of 18 from the line. Speaking of Froebe, she managed to hit a new career high on Saturday, pouring in 32 points against SHG.

“Today’s win was amazing,” Froebe said Saturday night. It feels good to beat SHG.” A key to the win in her words, “We played Lincoln defense today and we played as a team. Which was great.”

Finally Koehler summed it up best when he said at the end of the phone conversation, “A great day to be a Railer.”

The Lady Railers will play at home this week before starting regional action next Wednesday in Taylorville.

Here is the schedule for this week:

Monday - Lincoln vs. Southeast at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium
Thursday - Lincoln vs. Glenwood at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium SENIOR NIGHT


Scores by quarter of the Varsity game vs. SHG with double OT’s included:

6 13 35 42 48 54
5 14 29 42 48 49


Lincoln Varsity 54

Froebe 32
Lolling 11
Williams 4
Lolling 3
Bossingham 2
Schneider 2

Sacred Heart-Griffin 49

Vorreyer 14
Eck 13
Lowis 12
Staten 6
Ransdell 2
Hulcher 2

JV Note: Freshman Brooke Kitner is out with an injury. She has a meniscus tear, according to Coach Koehler. We wish Brooke the best as she faces surgery in the near future.

Lincoln JV 52

Schneider 20
Konczyk 18
Koehler 9
Antoine 5

Sacred Heart-Griffin 33

Gullo 10
Gilmore 8
Manker 6
Kuchar 4
Butler 2
Zeigler 2
Vespa 1

[Teena Lowery]