Lady Railers sweep Taylorville as the 2021 season comes to an end

[March 14, 2021]  The Lady Railers finished the season on a winning note Thursday night at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium. Lincoln beat the Taylorville Tornadoes in the Varsity game by a final score of 52-40 and in the JV game the Lady Railers picked up a 53-32 win.

The Varsity game started with Taylorville taking a 3-0 lead but back-to-back threes from Ryen Stoltzenburg and Kloe Froebe would soon give Lincoln the 10-3 advantage. After Taylorville’s Aubrey Kietzman hit back-to-back threes herself, the Lincoln lead was trimmed to 10-9.

With just over a minute left in the first quarter, Jenna Bowman would enter the game and hit a jumper from the wing to give Lincoln the 12-9 edge.

Froebe would hit another three quickly thereafter and Lincoln was up 15-9. A quick steal by Froebe set up another opportunity for a Lincoln basket, and following a Lincoln miss it would be Becca Heitzig pulling down the rebound and going up strong for two points. Heitzig’s bucket gave Lincoln a 17-9 lead.

Froebe would sink a free throw before the quarter ended to set the score at 18-9.

In the second quarter Jazmyn Robbins entered the game for the Lady Railers and around the 6:00 mark she put some crucial points on the scoreboard. First a three by Robbins extended the lead to 21-10 and then it was the freshman on the drive thru the middle of the lane and banking it in for two points to stretch the lead to 23-10.

With 4:34 left in the second quarter, Froebe would drive the lane, dribble around three Tornadoes, and drop in the bucket for a 25-10 Lincoln lead. The Tornadoes came back to score five unanswered points before Ava Gorens decided to drive baseline and lay it in. The Lady Railers were on top 27-15 at this point.

Senior Emily Paulus made two free throws to end the Lady Railers scoring in the first half and going to the locker rooms it was the home team on top 29-19.

In the third quarter, Gorens and Froebe combined to score 14 points and lead the Lady Railers out to a 43-28 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Railers ball movement continued to be quick and unselfish. The girls made every pass count and patiently waited for the right shot.

Heitzig scored on a baseline jumper to extend the lead to 45-28. A three by Froebe put Lincoln on top by 20 points, 48-28 the score.

A jumper from Imagin Werner from the free throw line, on the assist by Froebe, made the score 50-35.

Froebe would score the last basket of the season for Lincoln and the final score was set at 52-40.

Kloe Froebe would lead all scorers with 27 points. She would finish her freshman year as the new LCHS girls basketball record holder with 475 points scored.

The Varsity team ended their season with a 9-9 record overall. The Lady Railers finished 7-7 in the Apollo Conference.

The JV team defeated Taylorville 53-32. Grace Curry led Lincoln with 13 points. Jenna Bowman scored 11 points and Becca Heitzig tossed in 10 points. The Lady Railers JV team finishes the season with a 14-3 record under first-year head coach, Donnie Bowman.

The Lady Railers had a really good season, given the fact that they had little time to practice and prepare for the games. Their senior leader on and off the court, Emily Paulus, really prepared the girls well and will leave her own legacy behind at LCHS.

Following the win, Paulus was one of the last players to emerge from the locker room, with red eyes and a smile, she recalled some memories she will take with her leaving the Lady Railer program after four years.

“My favorite memory this season was riding in the Driver’s Ed van all the way to Effingham and Mahomet,” said Paulus. “There was some mixup and the bus didn’t come to pick us up; so me, Ryen, Ava, Coach Rohrer and Coach Hauch, we rode in the Driver’s Ed van. Actually Kloe and the rest of the girls were really bitter because we got Starbucks after the game. On Senior Night Kloe gave me a card that read, “P.S. I’m giving you a Starbucks card in case you go to Starbucks after a game without me again.”

“I mean those are some great experiences,” Paulus continued. “Last year with Coach (Todd) Koehler, I will never forget, he pranced through the lane with Imagin, because he was mocking her. That’s why we call her “Tink” for Tinkerbell,” she said laughing. “These girls have given me countless memories.”

Reflecting on the legacy she will leave behind, Paulus offered, “Coach is always reminding me my role is to be that coach on the floor. That’s what I have stepped up to do. I have followed in Madelyn Koehler’s footsteps. She was the one to do it last year. I knew it was going to be me to do it this year, being the only senior. I mean, I wish I wouldn’t have been the only one, of course, I wish I would’ve had my friends with me here but I had to step up and do that. I hope that girls following in my footsteps know that you don’t always have to score, you don’t always have to be the one creating all of the points, like that doesn’t have to be your role. You can be the leader on the floor, step up, talk to everybody, just know every spot on the court and just leave it all out there every single game. I can say that I’ve done that. I’ve left it out there every single game.” Eyes still puffy, Paulus broke out into a big smile when she noted she will most definitely come back next year to watch this team play. She even joked she would trade roles with Tori Geriets and Paulus herself would be the team manager.

Lincoln Varsity Head Coach Taylor Rohrer also took time to reflect on how proud she was of her team this entire shortened whirlwind of a season. Not only did kids have to face COVID 19 obstacles but also freshmen coming in from all of the different schools in Lincoln, playing together for the first time.

“It’s never an easy thing for kids coming in from different schools as freshmen and having to learn a new system,” said Rohrer. “It’s even harder when these kids are thrown into it at the last minute, so I am really proud of how far along these girls came. They learned on the fly, game by game and it really shows how much they understand the game of basketball. We were able to teach them game by game without a lot of practices. It also shows how bright the future is with this young group of kids, they can learn with almost no practices. I feel like I have an incredible coach staff here and with the upperclassmen, who were my leaders, everyone was able to walk them through things. If they had questions they had a multitude of people to ask.”

“We will really miss that leadership from Emily Paulus next year,” smiling about her lone senior. “I can say so many great things about her. I will say she is one of the best leaders that I’ve ever had the privilege of coaching. She is that kid that I could look at and she knew exactly what I was thinking. That’s always a really nice thing as a coach, to have a player that gets you and can relate things to her teammates on the floor and will do just exactly what you need without you needing to have to say it. She was that kid for me. Not only was she awesome on the basketball floor, but she’s a really good girl and she led by example with the choices she made on and off the floor. She’s just an all-around good person and I am excited to see where her future takes her because I think it’s going to be really great.”

There is no doubt the future of Emily Paulus is going to be great AND the future of Lady Railer basketball is going to be full of awesome, record-breaking moments. Hang on, Lady Railer basketball fans, because the ride in the future is going to be a fun and wild one. This season with a 9-9 record fans watching from home only caught a glimpse of what these ladies are capable of. There is so much more to come from the Lady Railers.

Congratulations on a terrific season ladies!


Varsity scoring

Lincoln 52

Froebe 27
Gorens 7
Robbins 5
Heitzig 4
R. Stoltzenburg 3
Paulus 2
Bowman 2
Werner 2

Taylorville 40

Kietzman 11
Letniku 7
Clayton 6
Richards 5
Havera 3
Gideon 3
Woodward 2
McCullough 2
Sagle 1

JV scoring

Lincoln 53

Curry 13
Bowman 11
Heitzig 10
Werner 7
T. Stoltzenburg 7
Robbins 3
Toft 2

Taylorville 32

Havera 12
Wheeler 5
Wright 4
Watson 4
Lowis 4
Czajkowski 2
Ray 1

[Teena Lowery]