Lady Railers stun state-ranked Peoria 46-38 in the Peoria Manual Tournament 

[December 29, 2021] Lincoln plays Dunlap tonight at 6:15 for the tournament championship

The Lady Railers took more than a week off for the Christmas break and they didn’t seem to miss a beat when they hit the court on Tuesday versus the Peoria High School Lions in the Peoria Manual Tournament. 

Peoria had an earlier season No. 1 ranking in 3A Girls High School Basketball.

The Lady Railers ran with the Lions from the tip-off and with Becca Heitzig leading the way with four points, Lincoln was able to finish the first quarter in a tie, 9-9 the score. 

Freshman Piper Whiteman ignited the Lady Railers offense with a three in the second quarter. With Heitzig and Kloe Froebe dropping buckets as well, Lincoln took over the lead. At the half the Lady Railers were on top 19-12. 

Lincoln outscored Peoria 14-12 in the third quarter, with Froebe pouring in eight points. The Lady Railers held a 33-24 lead going into the final quarter. 

Jenna Bowman tossed in the only two field goals for Lincoln in the fourth quarter, but when you tally in a 9-for-13 free throw shooting performance by these Lady Railers, Lincoln manages to surprise the Lions with a 46-38 win. 

Kloe Froebe led Lincoln with 19 points. 

Lincoln improves to 14-2 on the season. 

The Lady Railers will play for the tournament championship tonight at 6:15 versus Dunlap. 

After crushing many of their opponents by 30-plus points per game, Peoria falls to 11-3 on the season with the loss to Lincoln.

After the hard-fought victory, Lincoln Coach Taylor Rohrer was obviously excited and while calling the game “awesome” she had this to say about her team. 

“This group of girls makes a great team because they truly play each minute as a team and enjoy the success of their teammates. That was seen a lot tonight and it’s one of the reasons we were able to beat a tough Peoria team.” 

When talking about how the Lady Railers managed to knock off Peoria, Rohrer said, “We were able to attack the basket and finish from the free throw line. We moved the ball well and were able to find the open player.” 

These Lady Railers play in-your-face defense from start to finish every game and Rohrer was extremely proud of their effort versus the Lions.  

“I thought our defense looked really good,” said Rohrer. “We were able to force some traps and the girls were aggressive at jumping in passing lanes and rebounding.” 

The Lady Railers feature a young lineup of several sophomores to go with some established seniors. And don’t forget the freshman, Piper Whiteman, who has gotten tossed into the mix and who has played with poise and consistency against some pretty tough Varsity competition. 

When you combine all these girls and their obvious love for the game, it truly is a winning combination. Coach Rohrer has a really special team here and she knows it. 

“The girls stayed composed throughout the entire game,” Rohrer said. “They also made good decisions down the stretch with the basketball and were able to finish the game strong. They played their hearts out and after a week of not playing you could tell they were happy to be back out on the floor.”

Congratulations, Lady Railers, on this big win and good luck in the championship!

Lincoln 46

Froebe 19

Heitzig 9

T. Stoltzenburg 5

Whiteman 5

Bowman 4

McCuan 4

Peoria 38

Guyton 17

Edwards 12

Rutherford 5

Wilson 3

Hess 1

[Teena Lowery]