No. 7 Lanphier knocks off No. 3 Lincoln in Regionals

[February 14, 2018] 

The Lady Railers basketball season came to an abrupt end on Tuesday night at the hands of their former Central State 8 rivals, the Lanphier Lady Lions.

Lincoln set the tempo the entire first half and controlled the game with an 18-14 lead at the end of one quarter of play and then a 32-29 haltime lead. At one point in the second quarter Lincoln was up by as much as eight points. The second half would be an entirely different story for Lincoln.

Lanphier outscored Lincoln 19-7 in the third quarter, behind 10 points alone from Martrice Brooks.

The Lady Lions took the lead on a three, more like a rainmaker because that ball had such a high arch, but it went through the net without even brushing the rim. Lanphier took a 38-36 lead here with 4:20 showing on the third quarter clock.

The two teams would share lead changes for a short spell in the third quarter with Lincoln taking a 39-38 lead after Kaelyn Froebe took it through the lane and around three Lanphier defenders to toss it in. But the final two minutes of the third quarter saw the Lady Lions kick in their afterburners and go crazy. Lanphier went on a 10-0 run over Lincoln to close out the quarter. Down to the final eight minutes of the quarter Lincoln saw themselves in a 48-39 deficit.

Froebe hit a three to open the scoring in the fourth quarter, showing the Lady Lions they were not about to give up. But Lanphier hung tough and despite Leah Schneider pouring in the next eight points for Lincoln, the Lady Railers still trailed 54-50 around the 4:00 mark.

Lincoln kept battling. With 1:32 left in the game, Lincoln’s Morgan Lolling tossed up a shot that rolled around and around the rim with the crowd held their breath before the ball finally decided to fall through.

Lincoln was down by just three points here, 59-56 the score. The final 1:32 would be almost too ugly to write about it. The very physical contest included fouls, close misses and some rebounds that just fell into the Lady Lions hands. Lanphier took advantage and went on a 7-0 run. Froebe even missed a coast-to-coast layup in this stretch, something that just doesn’t normally happen.

With 3.0 seconds remaining and Lanphier up 66-56, the Lady Lions coach and bench players began to approach the court in celebration and the referee called a technical foul. Too soon to start the celebrating at Lincoln’s expense.

Kaelyn Froebe hits the final shot of her career. A free throw here with 3.0 seconds remaining settled the score at 66-58. Froebe ended the game with 26 points. 

Coach Taylor Richmond draws up a play during a fourth quarter timeout for Lincoln. The Lady Railers fell to Lanphier 66-58 in regional action. 

Froebe approached the free throw line and stood there for a while waiting for the referees to decide on the right call. Yes, technical it is. Froebe swished the last two baskets of her stellar career as a Lady Railer, despite having to see through misty eyes.

The final score was 66-58 as Lincoln walked off the court and more than just Froebe had those misty eyes.

This is certainly not the ending these seniors wanted. Hats off to all the Lady Railers who played tough in this final game of the season, particularly Kaelyn Froebe, Kennedy Lolling, Morgan Lolling, Emerie Wieber and Haley Hicks.

Kaelyn Froebe led Lincoln with 26 points and Leah Schneider tossed in 18 points.

Special mention: Morgan Lolling, Kennedy Lolling, Madelyn Koehler and
Makayla Anderson will return to Lanphier on Thursday night to shoot in the Three-Point Showdown for Lincoln.

The Lady Railers end the 2017-18 season with a 20-10 record.

Scores by quarter:

Lincoln 18 32 39 58
Lanphier 14 29 48 66

Lincoln (58)

Froebe 26
Schneider 18
M. Lolling 5
Konczyk 5
K. Lolling 2
Koehler 2

Lanphier (66)

Brooks 24
S. Price 12
Smylie 10
Allen 7
Hampton 6
Casey 5
F. Price 2

[Teena Lowery]