Mount Zion's huge fourth quarter overtakes Lincoln 56-51 on Senior Night

[February 05, 2019] 

A 25-point fourth quarter effort by Mount Zion on Monday night allowed the Braves to overtake Lincoln and steal the 56-51 win right from under the Lady Railers on Senior Night.

Lincoln honored their lone senior, Emma Konczyk, before the game. Konczyk's senior season has been plagued by injuries. The senior is due to have surgery for a torn meniscus and torn ACL. She has been out of the lineup for the past month-and-a-half.

The Lady Railers starting lineup on this Senior Night featured three sophomores (Cadence Presswood, Jasmine Davis and Emily Paulus) and two juniors (Leah Schneider and Madelyn Koehler), all of whom did an outstanding job containing Mount Zion for a solid three quarters.

The game began with Lincoln surging out to a 7-2 lead after Jasmine Davis hit a three at the 6:13 mark. Lincoln's tough defense was forcing turnovers early and the Braves were struggling.

Baskets by Cadence Presswood and Leah Schneider pushed Lincoln out to an 11-6 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Madelyn Koehler got hot in the second quarter to lead Lincoln. Koehler hit her first three at the 7:28 mark. After a Koehler three with 5:35 showing on the clock, Lincoln was up 17-11.

One bounce and a basket signature move later by Schneider extended that Lady Railer lead to 19-11.

Mount Zion's Alexis Rhoades dropped in a three to close the gap, 19-14.

But Koehler would have none of that. She threw up another three that was good for a 22-14 Lincoln lead as the midway point of the quarter was nearing. The junior was having a solid quarter and her steal and quick pass to fellow WLB alum Schneider allowed for an easy two points and a 10-point Lincoln lead.

With the score now 24-14 Mount Zion had all the feelings of frustration.

A bucket by Presswood on the inbounds pass under Lincoln's basket stretched the lead to 26-15.

Koehler would give Lincoln their biggest lead at this point after she connected from downtown again. With 38.6 seconds on the clock Koehler's three put Lincoln up 29-16 and Mount Zion was slowly getting the message that she's not missing tonight.

Is that four threes just in this quarter? "Yes," said Koehler's younger brother, Kyle, from the stands. Lincoln held a 29-20 lead as the halftime buzzer sounded.

Koehler emerged from the locker room, game face intact and hot shooting hand ready. She would be the first to put points on the board as the third quarter scoring got underway with her three at the 6:42 mark.

"Woo! Hit it again, Madelyn!" hollered Kyle Koehler from the stands. The sixth grader, who plays for a state championship for Carroll Catholic this Thursday night, cheered his sister on all night long in hopes she break a single-game scoring record for threes. She would not do it on this night, but that didn't deter his enthusiasm for his big sister playing on the court. Lincoln's lead was 32-20.

However, that outstanding senior from Mount Zion, Alexis Rhoades, had quietly tossed in a couple threes in the first half and she was about to turn up the noise in the second half. On this night, Alexis Rhoades would score all of Mount Zion's 11 points in the third quarter. Her back-to-back threes closed the gap on Lincoln's lead, 33-26, just around the 5:00 minute mark.

Following a couple Lincoln misses, Schneider managed to hang tough and pull down an offensive rebound and put that back up for two points. Lincoln's 6'2 center would also sink a couple free throws later to give the Lady Railers a 37-28 lead.

Presswood picked up a basket in the lane to add to the lead, 39-28 now the score.

A three from Alexis Rhoades and then a couple free throws from Lincoln settled the score at 41-31 as the third quarter closed.

The fourth quarter quickly began with Lincoln scoring off a Koehler-to-Schneider move. The Lincoln lead looked to be comfortable at 43-31.

A quick six points poured in by Mount Zion tightened things up a bit, 44-37.

After a little baseline jumper by Presswood hit nothing but net, Lincoln was up 46-37 with 6:07 left to play in the game.

Alexis Rhoades connected from behind the arc at the 5:44 mark and this would be the beginning of the end for Lincoln. A steal by Alexis Rhoades single-handedly led to another three at the 4:02 mark. After Lincoln lost possession of the ball a minute later, Addison Rhoades hit for a three-pointer and the Lincoln lead was diminishing.

Lincoln's lone senior, Emma Konczyk, was honored on Senior Night for her four-year commitment to Lady Railer Basketball. Emma is pictured with her parents, Jennifer and Joe.
 

The Lady Railers were barely holding on 49-48 as 3:12 showed on the game clock. Koehler would be fouled on a drive and sink one of her free throws to toss the lead out to 50-48.

But with 1:52 left, Mount Zion's arsenal included yet another long range shooter. This time Emma Ewing shot a three and just like that Mount Zion took a 51-50 lead.

The Lady Railers would not go down without a fight the final minute and a half, but sadly the shots would not go down.

With 1:08 on the clock, Jenny Baumann hit a little floater from the baseline for the Braves and Mount Zion had a 53-50 lead.

Still not too late for a Lincoln comeback. But luck was not on Lincoln's side as the game was winding down. Koehler missed a three and the rebound went off the home team.

Makayla Anderson was caught for a foul and this sent Mount Zion to the line to sink two free throws. The Braves lead was 55-50 with just under a minute to play.

With 35.1 seconds left Anderson tossed up a three for Lincoln that seriously spun in and out of the rim.

Another foul shot later and Mount Zion was up 56-50. Lincoln just could not pull off a late comeback win and had to settle for one last free throw from Schneider to take the 56-51 loss.

A 25-point fourth quarter performance by Mount Zion was the huge difference-maker in this game.

Mount Zion seniors Alexis Rhoades and Jenny Baumann combined for 16 of the 25 points in that fourth quarter to ensure that Lincoln would not celebrate too much on Senior Night. Alexis Rhoades finished the night with seven three-pointers.

Madelyn Koehler led Lincoln with 16 points.

Cadence Presswood turned in a fine performance with 14 points.

Leah Schneider tossed in 13 points for Lincoln.

The Mount Zion JV squad defeated Lincoln JV 43-36 in the earlier contest.

Freshman Abby Scharf led Mount Zion with 22 points. She hit six three-pointers to lead the JV team.

Lincoln celebrated Emma Konczyk with cake and cupcakes on Senior Night.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 51

Koehler 16
Presswood 14
Schneider 13
Davis 8

Mount Zion 56

Alexis Rhoades 23
Baumann 12
Ewing 12
Wolter 4
Addison Rhoades 3
Fox 2

JV scoring

Lincoln 36

Stoltzenburg 9
McCuan 8
Anderson 7
Robbins 5
Schilling 5
Gorens 2

Mount Zion 43

Scharf 22
Anderson 9
Duncan 4
Shumate 4
Sago 4

[Teena Lowery]