Lady Railers wipe out the Lady Tornadoes

[February 02, 2018] 

The Lincoln Lady Railers Basketball Team tore through the Taylorville Tornadoes in quick fashion Thursday night at the Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium.

It was a fast-paced game with very few fouls called and a limited number of free throws throughout the game. Lincoln was a perfect 4-for-4 from the line and Taylorville managed 3-for-5 from the line. The rest of game was similar to tornado activity, with the Lady Railers wreaking havoc on defense and annihilating Taylorville on offense.

In the end when all the damage was done, Lincoln walked off Neil Alexander Court a 64-36 winner.

Taylorville may have struck first in this one, but it didn’t take long for Kaelyn Froebe to rattle the rim for her first three of the night and the Lady Tornadoes were just getting a glimpse of what was about to happen.

Leah Schneider scored the next three Lincoln baskets in the paint and she would give the Lady Railers an early 9-6 lead. Froebe hit another three at the 2:33 mark and Lincoln was still on top 12-10.

Taylorville would tie the game in their next possession but Froebe just wouldn’t go away on the other end. Even when she missed her shot, she did something all coaches love to see, she followed it. She fought for own rebound and won. The senior tossed it in for two points under the basket and Lincoln was back on top 14-12.

The first quarter would end with Lincoln up 14-13.

Now the second quarter belonged heavily to Lincoln’s defense. It was stellar.

The Lady Railers smallest senior, 5’ 3” Haley Hicks, hit the floor running and making a mess of things for the Lady Tornadoes. Hicks was kind of like the eye of the storm. Her quick steals led to a couple Railer buckets. She was not the only one though. She just stood out among the pack.

The entire team played great defense and before long the lead was 21-13.

Finally somewhere around 4:00 minutes Taylorville made a basket but the Lady Tornadoes just could not keep up with Lincoln. Froebe pulled down a rebound and tossed the ball the length of the court to an off-and-running Madelyn Koehler, who laid it in nicely for two points and a 24-19 Lincoln lead.

A steal by Kennedy Lolling around the minute mark led to a bucket by Hicks and the damage by Lincoln was mounting.

Lincoln scored five more points in less than forty seconds, highlighted by Kennedy Lolling’s banked in three at the halftime buzzer and Lincoln headed to the locker room with a nice 31-20 lead.

Lincoln made a quick 9-2 run over Taylorville to start things off in the third quarter. Before long, Lincoln built up a 20-point lead.

After Froebe’s free throws with 3:41 showing on the third-quarter clock, Lincoln was dominating the game, 44-24 the score. Lincoln used the next minute and a half to just relax and run the clock down. The Lady Tornadoes were getting run down themselves at this point. These Lady Railers can be exhausting.

At the 2:02 mark, Froebe sat behind the three-point line and just as a fan from the opposing team yelled, “She’s gonna take it,” the ball was falling through the net. Too late for the Taylorville defender to even get a hand in her face. These Tornadoes were winding down.

Lincoln was up 47-27 at this point. Lincoln was still operating full steam ahead and the Lady Railers put together a little 6-0 run in just less than a minute and doubled the score on Taylorville, 54-27.

The end of the third quarter saw Lincoln on top 54-29.

The fourth quarter was pretty much the same damage, but a highlight was seeing Emma Konczyk get her first basket after returning from an injury. Her bucket with 5:55 showing on the scoreboard gave Lincoln a 60-32 lead.

After Froebe’s drive at the 4:37 mark, the score would be 64-36 and that’s how things would remain.

Once the starters hit the bench, the offense quieted down and while the defense remained cranked up, the final score settled in at 64-36. An outstanding win by the Lady Railers.

A trio of Lincoln girls hit double figures on the night. Kaelyn Froebe led all scorers with 23 points. Kennedy Lolling poured in 17 points and Leah Schneider tossed in 16 points for Lincoln.

Olivia Pruitt led Taylorville with 16 points.

Lincoln improves to 19-8 on the season.

A happy Lincoln bench as the Lady Railers game winds down. Lincoln topped Taylorville 64-36.

Junior Varity

The Lincoln JV team also won 48-28 over Taylorville.

Madelyn Koehler led the Lady Railers here with 22 points and Cadence Presswood tossed in 13 points. The Lincoln JV team has a 10-5 record on the season.

Meanwhile, it was announced that the Lincoln Lady Railers freshmen team ended the season this week with a perfect 7-0 record.

Lincoln will play Monday night at Mount Zion. The JV will tip-off at 6 p.m. and the Varsity is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

The ladies in action:

Varsity scores by quarter:

Lincoln 14 31 54 64
Taylorville 13 20 29 36

Lincoln (64)

Froebe 23
K. Lolling 17
Schneider 16
Konczyk 2
M. Lolling 2
Hicks 2
Koehler 2

Taylorville (36)

Pruitt 16
Snyder 8
Tomasello 6
Sagle 6

JV scores by quarter:

Lincoln 15 24 41 48
Taylorville 6 14 18 28

Lincoln (48)

Koehler 22
Presswood 13
Kitner 4
Paulus 2
Porlas 2
Davis 2
Williams 2
Anderson 1

Taylorville (28)

Gideon 11
Letniku 6
Minks 4
Bell 3
Allen 2
Thomas 2

[Teena Lowery]