Mahomet-Seymour wins the Sectional Championship over Lincoln 52-43

[February 26, 2022] The Class 3A Sectional Championship between Lincoln and Mahomet-Seymour on Friday night at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium really came down to a battle between the young, scrappy and hungry Lady Railers and the older, stronger and hungrier Bulldogs. 

Without a doubt the Lady Railers were really wanting this win on their home court over a tough Bulldogs team that had beaten them twice in regular season play. But from the perspective of any junior or senior in high school, they had already been denied any opportunity for postseason play the last two years due to Covid-19 and this was their turn to experience what every dedicated high school athlete dreams of. 

Still when Lincoln took the court in front of a huge crowd Friday night, they came to play and they truly did not disappoint their fans. 

Lincoln took a 4-1 lead over the Bulldogs early in the game, with Kloe Froebe pouring in the first two baskets.  Cayla Koerner tied the game 4-4 with the first three of the game. Froebe was quick to send a three sailing through the net and give Lincoln the 7-4 edge. The Bulldogs took over with an 8-7 lead and then it was Froebe again with the three from the top and the 10-8 Lincoln lead. Mahomet-Seymour would jump in front 13-10 at the 1:26 mark. With Piper Whiteman tossing in a bucket quickly thereafter, the score would flash 13-12 in favor of the visiting Bulldogs. A bucket by Nichole Taylor at the one minute mark stretched the Bulldog lead to 15-12 and that score would remain when the first quarter buzzer sounded. 

The crowd offered great support all night long, particularly Railer Nation.

Becca Heitzig’s first bucket in the second quarter closed the gap to 15-14. With Reese McCuan sinking her two foul shots near the 6:30 mark, the Lady Railers took a 16-15 lead. The Bulldogs took over a 19-16 lead after baskets by Savannah Orgeron and Koerner. As the four minute mark drew near, a pass from Froebe to Heitzig on the run resulted in a basket and the Lady Railers were giving it all they had, trying to outrun the bigger and stronger Bulldogs. In the next Lady Railers possession, it was Heitzig slipping between two Bulldogs on the drive to the basket and she made good on her shot in the paint. The Bulldogs still held the 23-20 edge, but Lincoln was right in the middle of the fight. Forty-seconds later Heitzig would grab the offensive rebound for Lincoln and she wiggled her way around a crowd of Bulldogs to earn another two points. With 1:37 left in the second quarter, Froebe spotted an opening in the lane, and a few dribbles later she was rattling the rim for two points and the 24-23 Lincoln lead. With just under a minute to play the duo of Froebe and Heitzig, both sophomores, created havoc for the senior Bulldogs and their 1-2 punch resulted in a basket and a 26-23 Lady Railers lead. With 39.0 seconds left in the first half, the 5’11 Orgeron stepped outside to nail a three for the Bulldogs and tied the game 26-26. That would be the halftime score and the way these two teams were battling back and forth, it was no surprise. 

With Froebe hitting a three from the top in the third quarter, the Lady Railers held onto a 29-28 lead. Heitzig used that sweet little jumper of hers to pad the lead, 31-28 the score. But once again, here come the Bulldogs. Leading the charge was Koerner again. Then it was Orgeron with a corner three and the Bulldogs were back on top, 33-31 the score. With 1:42 on the clock, Jenna Bowman would make a tough shot in the lane with Bulldogs hovering all around her. Bowman’s basket tied the game at 33-33 and even got a reaction out of Froebe that made her feet fly off the court as she congratulated Bowman with a smile. That would be the last time for the Lady Railers to smile in the third quarter, sadly. The Bulldogs quickly put up nine unanswered points in a minute, highlighted by a three at the buzzer from Durbin Thomas. Mahomet-Seymour carried a 42-33 lead into the fourth quarter. 

There were just a few bright spots for Lincoln in the fourth quarter, simply mere glimpses of the Lady Railers still having a chance. Froebe’s basket that bounced in at the 6:15 mark made the score 44-36. Then there was a huge three from the freshman, Whiteman, that made the score 49-41 with 3:25 left to play. And finally, with just over two minutes left in the game, Heitzig stole the ball and quickly dished off to Bowman for the bucket and the Bulldogs lead was trimmed to 49-43. But down the stretch, the Lady Railers could not overcome the six-point deficit. Lincoln was beginning to get a little weary, much like a puppy that’s played too long with the big dogs. There were some uncharacteristic airballs and that look of exhaustion was beginning to show. Even though the Lady Railers played feisty until the end, the seniors and juniors from Mahomet-Seymour prevailed with a 52-43 win.

The young guns of Lincoln lost to perhaps the best team in Mahomet-Seymour history. The Bulldogs, whose previous best win total was 25 games, reached win no. 30 on the season with their Class 3A Sectional Championship over Lincoln. 

The loss was a tough one to take for Lincoln, but the Lady Railers truly played their hearts out and without a doubt over the next two seasons, they will be in the older, stronger and hungrier stage of their careers. Their time is coming. They put in the work year round and as Coach Taylor Rohrer pointed out after the 72-57 win over Decatur MacArthur, these Lincoln girls have a winning mentality. 

Mahomet-Seymour captures the Sectional Championship over Lincoln by a final score of 52-43.

For now Lincoln will have to close the books on their 2021-22 season with a 24-9 record. As for seniors Reese McCuan, Ryen Stoltzenburg and Jazmyn Robbins, they move on towards graduation but they will always be Lady Railers who had remarkable careers and their senior leadership will be missed. 

In the final game of the season, Kloe Froebe led Lincoln with 20 points and Becca Heitzig reached double-digits with 12 points. 

Cayla Koerner led Mahomet-Seymour with 19 points. Savannah Orgeron tossed in 16 points for the Bulldogs. 

Mahomet-Seymour will carry their 30-4 record with them to the Super-Sectional.

After the game, a sea of orange and blue gathered around the basket at the visitor’s end, taking photos and cutting down the net. Bulldogs Head Coach Garret Risley fielded media questions, in between time he was holding his new baby. The coach couldn’t stop smiling, deservedly so. His team had overcome a 10-point fourth quarter deficit on Tuesday night to defeat Rochester 34-33 and now he was watching his team celebrate a sectional championship.  

“I’m just happy for the girls,” said Risley. “We preached this year that if you do things the right way and you come to practice everyday, good things will happen. This is their 30th win. They didn’t take any games off and it just pays off now. There is no switch that we have to flip at the end of the season to turn it on. It’s been on for the whole year. They continue to play this way and that’s why they get to enjoy this moment.”

As for breaking the previous school record of 25 wins earlier in the season, Risley said of this group, “I wouldn’t say they surpassed expectations, but they’re creating new ones along the way and just enjoying the moment as it’s here.” 

He also praised the young Lincoln team.

“They have a winning mentality,” said Risley. “They talked about that a little bit after the last game and they are winners. They’ve done it before at the youth level and that definitely transfers over. We know that if we are going to stay competitive, it’s going to have to be with Lincoln. They are going to be great for years to come.”

Agreed. 

Lincoln Coach Taylor Rohrer was obviously sad for her team as she offered some final comments. 

"The kids played really hard,” said Rohrer. “I thought we played really good defense for three and a half quarters. We started pulling down rebounds and that kept us in the game. It just didn’t go our way and for some reason it just wasn’t meant to be.”

“Our girls played their hearts out and they did everything they could,” continued Rohrer. “You can tell the difference when you look at our two teams on the floor, the seniors and juniors versus the freshmen and sophomores. Mahomet-Seymour is a good team. I told their coach (Risley) before the last game that I thought they were under-ranked. I told him the last time that we played that he’s done a really nice job with this group and they play for him.”

The youth of this Lincoln team playing at the Varsity level cannot go unnoticed. With four minutes left on the game clock, Lincoln had four sophomores and one freshman on the court versus three seniors and two juniors for Mahomet-Seymour. 

Rohrer realizes what a talented group she has in her underclassmen. 

“They definitely shined,” Rohrer noted. “This is a very special group. They are winners. They want to win. They are very smart basketball players. They’ve been around the game so much. Coming into this game, we were the underdogs. Mahomet-Seymour was the higher ranked team and they played like it tonight. They were excellent tonight. But I thought my kids were excellent, too.” 

Mahomet-Seymour (30-4) advances to the Class 3A Super-Sectional on Monday, February 28, 2022 at Highland. The Bulldogs will play Bethalto (Civic Memorial) at 7 p.m. 

Scoring

Lincoln 43

Froebe 20

Heitzig 12

Whiteman 5

Bowman 4

McCuan 2

Mahomet-Seymour 52 

Koerner 19

Orgeron 16

Durbin 8

Taylor 6

Juarez 3

[Teena Lowery]