Lady Railers advance to the Regional Championship

[February 16, 2017]  The Lady Railers knocked off the no. 3 seed Litchfield/Lincolnwood Purple Panthers Wednesday night 57-43 at the Taylorville Regional. Lincoln, a no. 5 seed in the regional, will play for the championship versus the no. 2 seed Effingham on Friday night. That game will tip off at 7 p.m.

In Wednesday night’s contest versus Litchfield, the Lady Railers were off to a bit of a slow start falling behind 5-0 early. The first couple shot attempts by Lincoln from beyond the arc just rattled the rim making noise, but no points. Thankfully that did not last long.

Morgan Lolling would get the ladies on the board after she pulled down an offensive rebound and put the ball back up for the first two Lincoln points.

Then it was Grace Bossingham hitting nothing but net on a 10-foot jumper and finally Morgan Lolling again, this time with a three to ignite the fans and giving Lincoln its first lead, 7-5.

Lincoln would go on to hit three more 3s in the first quarter and after a pretty tough battle with the Purple Panthers, Lincoln was on top 16-15 at the first quarter buzzer.

In the second quarter Lincoln had a hard time shutting down Litchfield’s 6’1 Abby Brockmeyer and she poured in four field goals here. Brockmeyer’s basket with 5:45 showing on the clock would tie the game at 19-19 but that would be as close as the Purple Panthers, who carried an impressive 25-3 record going into the game, would get.

Lincoln’s own 6’1 Leah Schneider would give Lincoln the 21-19 lead on her bucket off the inbounds pass and the lead would remain in the Lady Railers favor throughout the rest of the game.

Kaelyn Froebe extended the lead to 23-19 with her field goal and it looked like the Lady Railers were clicking on all cylinders.

Hailie Williams’ three at the 3:54 mark would give Lincoln a 26-21 lead. Bossingham hit another bucket from the paint after that and then it was Kennedy Lolling sinking a couple free throws, all adding up to a 30-23 Lincoln lead.

Just before the half was over Williams would steal the ball from Litchfield at half court and that would be key for Lincoln. The senior ran in for the layup and all was right with Railer Nation. Lincoln’s lead at the half was 32-26.

Railer Nation approved. But you could say the Lady Railer coaching staff wanted more and they got it from the ladies following a halftime “pep talk.”

Lincoln hit the court in the third quarter just nailing the Purple Panthers with a press. Typical Lincoln hard-core defense that apparently Litchfield had not seen all season. The Purple Panthers were rattled and that was a game-changer. Within the first minute of play Lincoln ran off five unanswered points and the frustration showed on the faces of the Litchfield players.

Lincoln took advantage of the situation and after Williams hit a three from the top of the key, the Lady Railers had extended their lead to 40-30. Kennedy Lolling’s three with 1:48 left to play in the third quarter made a statement. It was the eighth three of the game for the ladies and they were definitely showing the Purple Panthers what they are made of. At the close of the third quarter Lincoln was on top 45-34.

Lincoln Head Coach Taylor Richmond explains the game plan to the Lady Railers during a timeout. Lincoln knocked off the no. 3 seed Litchfield/Lincolnwood co-op 57-43 in the Taylorville Regional.

The fourth quarter would see both teams spend a lot of time at the free throw line, and that was fine, as long as Lincoln was in the lead. The Lady Railers never gave up that lead and went on to cruise to the 57-43 victory.

Kaelyn Froebe and Kennedy Lolling scored 17 points each to lead the Lady Railers.

Abby Brockmeyer led all scorers with 20 points. She also finished her stellar high school career with 2,362 points. Brockmeyer, who is ranked no. 1 in her class with a GPA that’s off the charts, signed her letter of intent to play basketball at SIU-Carbondale last fall.

Worth repeating, the Lady Railers will be back in action Friday night at 7 p.m. as they play for the Regional Championship versus Effingham. That game will tip off in Taylorville on the historic Dolph Stanley Court.

Lincoln 57

Froebe 17
K. Lolling 17
M. Lolling 7
Williams 8
Bossingham 4
Wieber 2
Schneider 2

Litchfield 43

Brockmeyer 20
Taylor 8
Furlong 8
Fleming 4
Pope 2
Karnes 1

[Teena Lowery]