Lanphier wins Class 3A Regional Championship over Lincoln 55-39
 

[February 21, 2020] 

High School Girls Basketball: Lanphier wins Class 3A Regional Championship over Lincoln 55-39

The Lady Railers fought hard the entire game against Springfield Lanphier for the Class 3A regional championship on Thursday night at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium but in the end the Lions hoisted the championship trophy after a 55-39 win.

The game was off to a quick start with Lanphier jetting out to an 8-0 lead and the pace never slowed down. Matrice Brooks scored the first two buckets for Lanphier on layups and she would undoubtedly control the floor for the Lions. A basket by Kiya Holman and a couple free throws by Lezhauria Williams allowed Lanphier that quick 8-0 lead.

Lincoln got on the board by way of a quick pass from Madelyn Koehler to Cadence Presswood, who successfully dropped in two points under the basket at the 3:52 mark.

Leah Schneider cut the lead in half after she sank two free throws thirty seconds later.

But at the other end, Holman liked to hang out long enough in the corner to catch a quick cross-court pass and proceed to sink a three. The Lanphier lead 11-4 now.

Around the minute mark it was Lincoln sophomore Ava Gorens on the drive, banking the shot in and chiseling away at the lead, 11-6.

But seconds later Holman would bank in a long three to extend the lead to 14-6 for Lanphier. That would settle the first quarter scoring.

Brooks started the second quarter action with a steal off the inbounds pass and the basket. She’s got quick hands and would go on to tally 10 steals in the game for Lanphier.

The first minute of the second quarter the two teams did trade buckets back and forth, with Koehler highlighting the action with her first three of the game to make the score 18-11.

But Brooks just owned the quarter on both ends and her nine points guided the Lions to a 27-16 halftime lead.

The third quarter action was intense. Koehler came out of the huddle and was ready to do battle. Her corner three at the 7:36 mark got the crowd fired up.

Baskets by Schneider and Presswood back and forth would breathe new life into Lincoln and force Lanphier to call a timeout with 4:42 on the clock and the lead dwindling down to 31-25.

Presswood came out of the huddle to knock down her free throw and inch the Lady Railers a point closer.

Lincoln kept pace with Lanphier during the next stretch of non-stop action. Ryen Stoltzenburg and Schneider each got buckets in the lane and Lincoln trailed 35-30 with less than a minute to play in the third quarter.

With 36.6 seconds on the third quarter clock Koehler, knocked down a three and the gym nearly exploded. Lincoln had a huge crowd on hand for the game anyway and Railer Nation made a really good showing too, so with that Koehler-three the rafters were rattling inside Roy S. Anderson. Lincoln was down 35-33 but certainly not out.

Lanphier had one more basket left in them in the third quarter. Williams banked one in with 13.0 seconds left and that made the score 37-33. Those Lanphier girls didn’t miss when hitting the backboard square.

The fourth quarter did not play out in Lincoln’s favor. Lanphier’s bench was deep and it seemed like every player was still fresh. The Lions used a 13-0 run to start the fourth quarter. That hurt.

The Lady Railers were scoreless until Koehler hit a three with 3:47 on the clock.

Lanphier continued scoring with a field goal from Kylee Parker and yet another corner three from Holman. Finally with 1:10 left in the game Lanphier brought in another round of ten fresh legs.

Lincoln’s scoring would be finished off by Schneider in the lane, who drew the foul and scored one more ‘and one’ in her high school career. This would conclude the scoring in the game and make the final score 55-39.

Lincoln was led in scoring by senior Madelyn Koehler with 14 points. Leah Schneider scored 11 points in her final game as a Lady Railer.

Lincoln Head Coach Taylor Rohrer was proud of her team’s effort despite the championship loss to Lanphier. “This is an incredible group of girls and I had a lot of fun coaching them this year,” said Rohrer. “They are resilient, they are fighters and they never ever gave up. I think that showed. In so many games we played hard and we beat teams that were real tough and my kids, they proved that they are so capable. I am very proud of them and I am proud of the season we had. I am proud of the way we finished. You know it was a big upset to beat Springfield High, to be in this game tonight and to be fighting against these Lanphier Lions. That’s an incredible program that Doug (Lanphier Coach Doug Collins) runs and it’s a great team he has. He’s had a great team for a few years now. My kids played hard and I can’t ask for anything other than that.”

Lincoln finished the season 14-18 overall and 6-6 in the Apollo Conference.

Matrice Brooks of Lanphier led all scorers with 19 points. Serenity Price tossed in 13 points for Lanphier. Kiya Holman finished with 11 points for the Lions.

Lanphier advances to the Champaign Central IHSA Class 3A Sectional. The Lions will play Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.

Lincoln 39

Koehler 14
Schneider 11
Presswood 9
Gorens 3
Stoltzenburg 2

Lanphier 55

Brooks 19
Price 13
Holman 11
Williams 6
Trotter 4
Parker 2

[Teena Lowery]