Lady Railers Varsity fall on Senior Night to Glenwood 43-39

[February 10, 2017]   The Lady Railers celebrated Senior Night Thursday at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium and taking away the final two minutes of the ballgame; it was a great evening.

The two senior ballplayers, Lauren Block and Hailie Williams, along with manager Anna Sielaff, were recognized before the game by the crowd and given gifts and hugs by their teammates.

Then following warm-ups that saw the Lady Railers pumped up for their final Central State 8 performance, the game began on a good note. Senior Hailie Williams opened the scoring with basket and Lincoln was off and running.

Kennedy Lolling nailed a long three at the 4:21 mark to give the Lady Railers a 5-4 lead. Then Williams put Lincoln in the lead 7-5 when she pulled down the offensive rebound and put it back up for two points.

Morgan Lolling’s two free throws around the 2:00 mark would give Lincoln a 9-5 lead.

Lincoln’s defense was tough on Glenwood in the first quarter and that allowed the Lady Railers the lead.

However, the big girls for Glenwood found a way to score to close out the quarter and give the Titans the lead. Their 6’0 sophomore Carlie Smith and 5’11” junior Makenzie Bray each hit field goals to close out the quarter with Bray connecting for a three that gave Glenwood a 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Glenwood worked on building that lead to start the second quarter and the Lady Railers had to fight back. Lincoln tied the game 13-13 on a nice inbounds play where Grace Bossingham got the ball and went to the bank with it. Her bank shot was good and the Lady Railers looked to be picking up steam.

But on the other end those Titans were just getting fired up. Glenwood charged out to a 21-15 lead and Lincoln had to play catch up.

In the final two minutes of the quarter Morgan Lolling’s drive to the basket was good and Leah Schneider hit two free throws to pull Lincoln to within two at the half. Going into the locker room the Titans had a 21-19 advantage over Lincoln.

The halftime entertainment was brought to you by little Kruz Froebe and the West Lincoln Broadwell 7th grade girls state champions. The team that went 26-0 on the season and brought home the first place hardware was recognized at halftime at center court. Each player was introduced individually and walked out to wave to the crowd, each with a big smile on their faces.

It was five year old Kruz Froebe, manager of the team and son of coach Kari Froebe, sporting the biggest smile and biggest wave of all. If you ever get a chance to watch this kid play ball at halftime while the girls are in the locker room, you will see this kid is dynamite. Lincoln Railers “Class of 2029” (just a guess, may be off by a year) looking good!

The coaches and other folks associated with the state championship team were also introduced. Congratulations to these champions!

Back to the ballgame. Glenwood’s night of “catch me if you can” continued. Williams gave it her best shot, she hit a huge three in the third quarter that pulled Lincoln to within three points, 25-22, and also erupted the crowd. The crowd erupted in part because that was the first Lady Railer basket of the quarter and it came at the 5:07 mark. Lincoln fans were hungry for a basket.

Senior Hailie Williams scored 7 points in her final game at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium vs. Glenwood .

But for the Titans, Bray was eager to score and when she wasn’t dropping in twos she was reigning threes. Bray’s three put Glenwood up 28-24 and she was nowhere near being done. Her steal and left-handed layup seconds later put the Titans up 31-24 and Lincoln meanwhile could not buy a bucket.

In the final minute of the third quarter, finally the tide turned for Lincoln. Morgan Lolling hit a huge three with 1:03 showing on the clock and Lincoln was inching closer. Thirty seconds later Kennedy Lolling’s layup was good and as the third quarter came to a close Lincoln was down just 33-31.

The beginning of the fourth quarter was kind of how Lincoln’s night went, as Kennedy Lolling’s attempt at a three was in, then it spun out of the basket. Sighs were heard from the crowd, but the Lady Railers kept fighting and shooting.

This basket by Grace Bossingham would give Lincoln a 36-34 lead in the fourth quarter 

Finally with 5:41 remaining in the game, Morgan Lolling knocked down a three from the top of the key and the ballgame was tied 34-34. Exactly a minute later Bossingham scored in the paint and Lincoln was up 36-34.

Glenwood scored on consecutive possessions to get the lead back but then another big moment for Lincoln. Froebe was dribbling around the top of the key and Coach Taylor Richmond yelled, “Shoot the ball.” She did. Nothing but net from long range and a Lincoln lead once again, 39-38 in favor of the home team and Railer Nation was celebrating.

The party would not last, though. Glenwood ruined the party. Bray sank a couple free throws with 1:26 on the clock to give the Titans a 40-39 lead and from here on out it was all in favor of Glenwood. In fact a touch out of bounds was controversial with just under a minute to play and at first it was going to be Lincoln ball, but then the officials conferred and reversed the call in favor of Glenwood.

While neither team made a field goal the rest of the contest, Ciara Lahr did sink the last three free throws for the Titans and Lincoln fell in defeat, 43-39.

The Lady Railers did have several opportunities to score in the final minute, but just could not get the job done on this Senior Night.

Morgan Lolling led Lincoln with 11 points and Kaelyn Froebe chipped in 9 points. Makenzie Bray led Glenwood with 20 points.

Lincoln will have the weekend to prepare for regionals next week. The Lady Railers travel to the Taylorville Regional to play Clinton at 7:30 p.m. on Monday night. Good luck to the Lady Railers in the postseason!

Lincoln 39

M. Lolling 11
Froebe 9
Williams 7
K. Lolling 5
Bossingham 4
Schneider 2
Konczyk 1


Glenwood 43

Bray 20
Lahr 11
C. Smith 4
A. Smith 4
Karhliker 2
Klintworth 1
Icenogle 1

[Teena Lowery]