High School Girls Basketball
Lady Railers run right past Deerfield in the semifinals of State
Team improves to 36-0 and will play for a state championship at 5:30 p.m. today

 

[April 04, 2023] 

Not only did the Lady Railers pick up a 76-56 win on Friday afternoon at Redbird Arena in Normal, but they took the place by storm. Railer Nation showed up in a big way, filling three-fourths of the arena and then literally, it was a snowstorm outside during and after the game.

The undefeated Lady Railers were quickly the talk of the tournament before halftime was even reached. Let’s face it, we all know how impressive these girls have been all season, but it should give Lincoln an extreme amount of pride to see their girls show off their talents on the big stage.

And when it comes to performing on the big stage, nobody does it better than Kloe Froebe. She was the talk of Press Row on Friday afternoon. After her stellar performance against Deerfield, she has to be a leading candidate for the 2023 Gatorade Player of the Year. But put that aside right now, Froebe’s focus is on her team and winning that state championship.

It took Froebe all of eight seconds to set the tone for the game on Friday and she would remain unstoppable for the next thirty-one minutes, pouring in 45 points (a new IHSA record for all classes). She also pulled down 15 rebounds, recording a double-double. She shot 12-for-18 from the field, which included 2-for-4 from the three-point range. And she was 19-of-23 from the free throw line. A good day’s work in her first IHSA state appearance with all of her siblings in the stands watching.

So with Froebe getting the tip over Deerfield and Taryn Stoltzenburg snagging the ball and tossing it back to Froebe, the 5’9 guard drove the lane and tossed up an underhand layup and drew the foul. It was one of those early moments in the game where Froebe showed the Warriors, “You can’t guard me” and just flat-out took it to the hoop. As the ball kissed the glass and went through the net, Froebe celebrated and quickly stepped to the free throw line to sink the ‘and one’ to make the score 3-0. Froebe would score again in the lane at the 5:45 mark and collect another ‘and one’ to stretch the lead to 6-0. Six seconds later Froebe would steal the inbounds pass from the Warriors and go to the bucket, gathering two more points. The lead was now 8-0 and the Warriors called a timeout. How many times have we seen that this season?!

Taryn Stoltzenburg would complete the 10-0 run at the 4:59 mark and the approximately 3,000 plus fans in attendance cheering for Lincoln were ecstatic.

At the 4:52 mark Deerfield’s Aubrey Galvan would finally get the Warriors on the board, scoring on a layup. Less than thirty-seconds later Nikki Kerstein sank a three and the Warriors were ready to join the action, making it a 10-5 ballgame.

The Warriors were getting into foul trouble early and Froebe was more than happy to step to the line. She sank one free throw at the 3:38 mark and the score was 11-5. The pace was fast in the first quarter and the Warriors rattled off a couple buckets to trim the lead to 11-10.

Froebe hit a jumper with 2:42 on the clock and that was a much-needed basket. The Warriors kept chipping away at the lead and with Brenna Burns making good on a layup the score was 13-12. With 1:03 on the clock a three from Froebe caused the crowd to erupt and the Lincoln lead was 16-12. With twenty-seconds left in the first quarter, Nikki Kerstein scored on a layup and she also sank the ‘and one’ and Lincoln was clinging to a 16-15 lead when the quarter ended.

It was evident this Deerfield squad matched up well with Lincoln. They love to run, they play some great physical defense and they love to shoot the three. But they don’t have a Kloe Froebe. Advantage Lincoln.

The second quarter scoring started off with a basket by Tori Geriets on the assist from Froebe and Lincoln was on top 18-15. A 5-0 run by the Warriors would put them on top 20-18 for the first and only time of the game. Lincoln tied the game 20-20 on a bank shot by Becca Heitzig at the 5:31 mark and that would be the last tie of the game, too. Lincoln just locked in and ran away with it from this point on. Piper Whiteman sank two free throws at the 5:10 mark and then it was Froebe with the layup seven seconds later and the score was 24-20. Froebe’s free throws at the 4:07 mark stretched the lead to 26-20. Exactly a minute later Froebe made good on a layup and the score was 28-20. With that basket she eclipsed 1,000 points scored this season for the Lady Railers. Another layup by Froebe at the 1:57 mark and the Lincoln fans were having a good time at Redbird Arena with a 30-20 lead. Whiteman’s two free throws at the 1:21 mark would cap off the 14-0 run by Lincoln and the score was 32-20. Lexi Kerstein broke the Warriors scoring drought with a three from the corner and the lead was trimmed to 32-23. With :21 seconds left in the half, Froebe made another trip to the free throw line and her two shots gave Lincoln a 34-23 lead. The Warriors were in foul trouble, and they just kept fouling the wrong player. Froebe sank 7-of-8 from the line in the first half and with her 8-for-12 shooting performance from the field, she sprinted to the locker room with an impressive 24 points in the first half and more importantly her team on top by double-digits.

The talk of Press Row at the half was indeed Kloe Froebe.

But if you think Froebe and company put on a show in the first half, just hang on.

The third quarter was quietly 35-25 with 6:56 on the clock but leave it to the Lady Railers to make some noise. The girls would go on a 17-0 run and again for lack of better words, just bury the Warriors. It all started with a layup by Geriets and that was followed closely by a layup from Stoltzenburg. After a steal by Bowman, Heitzig hit a jumper and the Lincoln lead was 41-25. After a trio of free throws by Heitzig, Froebe hit a three at the 4:33 mark and that nearly blew the roof off Redbird Arena.

Just hold on, there’s more coming. But now is a good time to mention how legendary journalist Dave Kindred (who typically covers the Morton Lady Potters) was in awe of the performance by Froebe. Because at this point in the game after Froebe hit the three from the top of the key, Kindred said from Press Row, “She’s got 28 points and she’s played 21 minutes. That’s impressive.” The score was also 47-25 at this time, with Froebe outscoring the Warriors team with 28 points. How’s that for her first IHSA State Tournament? And the game was far from over.

Another history-making moment was about to happen as Bowman would hit a three at the 2:54 mark and the fans knew what that shot meant. Bowman had just broken the previous record of 72 3s made in a season by Angie (Bossingham) Eskra, who happened to be in the crowd to witness her record being broken. Twenty seconds later Heitzig hit a jumper to conclude this monstrous run and Lincoln was on top 52-25.

Froebe spent a couple more trips at the free throw line as the third quarter was winding down and no matter how much the Warriors student section tried to distract her, she calmly sank free throw after free throw. Lincoln would see the third quarter come to an end with a 56-29 lead. Not quite a running clock like fans are used to, but this is the state tournament.

Let’s talk about another record in the fourth quarter that was about to be broken. With Froebe scoring a layup early in the action, the score was 58-31. After two free throws by Froebe the score was 60-33. Her layup at the 6:08 mark made the score 64-35. After she sank three free throws midway through the quarter, she reached 41 points in the game, tying a record which was set in 1983 by Tina Hutchinson of East St. Louis. In an eleven-second turnaround she made a layup to stretch the lead to 71-42 and this allowed her to break Hutchinson’s record. Her 43 points still put her on top of the Warriors team. With 1:40 left in the game Froebe stood at the free throw line one more time and sank her final two shots to finish with a new IHSA single-game scoring record of 45 points. The new record set by Froebe covers all four classes. Impressive!

And not to overlook the rest of the impressive Lady Railers, Geriets hit two soft jumpers in the fourth quarter and Stoltzenburg made a three-pointer from the corner that drew a ton of applause, as the Lady Railers finished the game on top 76-56.

Lincoln had a great shooting day against Deerfield, finishing overall 46.9% from the field (23-49) and 70.3% (26-37) from the free throw line.

The Lady Railers out rebounded the Warriors 47-32.

Froebe’s day was the talk of the tournament, as she finished with 45 points and 15 rebounds.

Becca Heitzig just missed a double-double herself. She had 9 points and 10 rebounds.

Tori Geriets and Piper Whiteman each pulled down six rebounds as they boxed out and crashed the boards like bosses.

The Lady Railers improved to 36-0 on the season.

Lincoln will be looking to be just the 17th undefeated state champ as they take the court tonight, as was noted in the postgame press conference.

It was just a great day on the court for Lady Railer basketball and Coach Taylor Rohrer took Piper Whiteman, Taryn Stoltzenburg, Kloe Froebe, Becca Heitzig, Jenna Bowman and Tori Geriets with her to the press conference following the win.

In her postgame comments Coach Rohrer said, “I just think that my girls played an incredible game today. We prepared really hard for them. We knew what they were going to do, and these kids came into the gym for the last three days and prepared and I think that you could see that on the floor. I’m very proud of the way they played. They played as a team and that’s why we stand here today. I’m very proud of them.”

When Kloe Froebe was asked if she could’ve imagined scoring 45 points on this big of a stage, she answered, “No. I had no idea. You know, coming in I was like it’s going to be a bigger court and it’s going to be harder to push the ball, which is something that we thrive on. Our press had to scoot back so I didn’t know how many fast breaks we’d get which is something we thrive on. So to be able to come out and score 76 points was amazing.”

A comment was also made about Froebe coming off the court at the end of the game, cracking a smile and hugging her coach and the curious question of what she was thinking at that moment knowing her team was making it to the title game.

“You know, I was just thinking about all the hard work we put in. All the three and a half, four-hour practices that we’ve spent in the gym and multiple gyms,” Froebe said, glancing at her coach and laughing. “It’s all paid off. This is what we play for. This was the goal and to be able to accomplish it is just the best feeling in the world.”


When asked about her team falling behind in the second quarter, Coach Rohrer said, “I just think that this group of kids is very composed. That’s something we talk about. Just stay composed. If the other team is up a little bit, that’s alright. We continue to play Lincoln basketball. We’ll be back in it. Trailing is normal. You know when you’re playing in a state game you expect the other team to be good. You expect it to bounce back and forth a little bit. We told our kids, they might be ahead at some point, we’re gonna be ahead at some point, but they can come back so we have to just continue to play Lincoln basketball. That’s something that we preach. Just stay composed, play our game and it’s all gonna work out.”

Froebe also was asked about bragging rights at the dinner table after this 45-point performance, in reference to her two older siblings and their basketball careers at LCHS. Both Kaelyn Froebe and Kaden Froebe left their mark in Lady Railer and Railer basketball history just a few short years ago. Froebe’s answer undoubtedly will pull at your heart, however rekindling the bad memory of 2020 when Covid stopped the 32-2 Railers, of which Kaden was a key starter, from advancing to the Super-Sectional and eventually State. That team was incredible and destined for the state tournament. The Froebe’s are a competitive family, with a younger brother, Kruz, coming up in the ranks, too. But at the end of the day, they are each other’s biggest fans.

“Umm, you know, it’s not really bragging rights,” began Froebe carefully, “because I’ve said I am doing this for them. My brother had a solid team and they should’ve been here and to be able to have him in the stands and my sister as well is just a heartwarming feeling. I’m glad that I was able to do this for them. And Piper because her brother, Kameron Whiteman who was on that team, so we always say we’re doing this for them.”

What else can you add to that?

This magical season continues tonight as Lincoln will take on LaGrange Park Nazareth Academy (34-1) for the Class 3A State Championship at 5:30 p.m.

Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. for fans.

This is sure to be an epic battle you won’t want to miss!

Scoring

Lincoln 76

Froebe 45
Heitzig 9
Geriets 8
Stoltzenburg 7
Whiteman 4
Bowman 3

Deerfield 56

N. Kerstein 16
Galvan 16
L. Kerstein 12
Kerndt 6
Burns 6

[Teena Lowery]