High School Girls Basketball
Lady Railers feast on the Redbirds 72-26

 

[December 07, 2023] 

The Lady Railers hosted the Metamora Redbirds on Wednesday night in a Varsity only contest that saw Lincoln come out on top 72-26.

Kloe Froebe just missed outscoring the opponent by a basket. Froebe finished with 25 points in a little over two quarters on the court.

Once again the Lady Railers defense was incredibly ferocious and they were able to force countless turnovers before the Redbirds could even cross half-court. Lincoln capitalized on nearly each and every moment on defense and in turn reaped the rewards with a basket.

First Quarter

Fifteen seconds into the game the Redbirds scored the first bucket in the lane to take a 2-0 lead but Kloe Froebe and company were quick to retaliate. Froebe’s three from the top of the key near the 7:30 mark put the Lady Railers on top 3-2.

After falling behind 4-3 on a couple Redbird free throws, the Lady Railers got down to business and took over the game with a 19-4 lead over the next four minutes and forty-five seconds of action. Becca Heitzig started the 16-0 run with her baseline drive, completed by tossing in the short jumper that touched nothing but the bottom net. Heitzig also sank a little jumper in the paint to stretch the lead to 7-4 at the 5:13 mark.

Froebe and Piper Whiteman each added a free throw for a 9-4 lead. Froebe then sank the next three baskets, each one coming courtesy of a steal first.

Down 15-4 the Redbirds were getting a glimpse at how brutal the Lincoln press truly is. Heitzig and Froebe continued to be a two-woman wrecking crew. Heitzig especially was trying to earn her WWE belt when she took out a girl near the scorer’s table and tossed the ball over to Taryn Stoltzenburg.

Stoltzenburg missed the layup but Froebe was quick on the rebound and the putback. That was back in the midst of that 16-0 run when six of Froebe’s points were scored in about twenty seconds. Fast forward to the two minute mark and Heitzig and Froebe had each tossed in another bucket and the lead was 19-4.

Metamora’s Emma Hernandez finally sank a three at the 1:58 mark to give the Redbirds something to cheer about briefly. At the 1:32 mark Heitzig was at it again with a sweet soft jumper off the pass from Froebe. With eight points in the quarter already, Heitzig was playing smoothly, just like spreading peanut butter on warm toast. With Froebe making a shot at the free throw line at the 1:20 mark, the Lincoln lead was 22-7.

After Liv Vaughan made the Redbirds last shot of the quarter, Lincoln was still on top with a firm 22-9 lead. Froebe wanted the ball at the top of the key as the clock was winding down under a minute. Her three with 46.2 seconds left would make the score 25-9. After Whiteman sank two free throws with 29.0 seconds on the clock, the first quarter score was set at 27-9. A pretty solid first eight minutes of work for the home team, who was led by Froebe with 16 points.

Second Quarter

Jenna Bowman opened the scoring for Lincoln in the second quarter with a three, as the lead grew to 30-9. Two quick baskets by Stoltzenburg just added to the misery of the Redbirds, 34-9 now the score.

Near the four and a half minute mark, Mia Clark sank a three and Lincoln was enjoying a 37-13 lead. Clark fits right in with the starters on defense and she even gets credit for a steal in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Heitzig was just on some kind of mission, with six more points scored in the quarter. Bowman also added another three near the end of the quarter. With 10.6 seconds remaining, Froebe poured in one last basket of the half, making the score 48-19.

Third Quarter

Tori Geriets was able to score two buckets in under a minute to start the Lady Railers scoring in the second half. It’s really insane how fast these girls can put points up on the board. They’ve only been in training for this since kindergarten.

Froebe tallied seven more points in a little over three minutes while Stoltzenburg scored on a layup during that time. When Froebe went to take a seat by Coach Taylor Rohrer and Coach Cory Farmer, the slaughter was nearly complete with the score 61-21.

Whiteman’s two points at the 3:02 mark kept the Redbirds down 63-23. And finally one more bullet out of Heitzig, who pulled the trigger from the corner by Wayne Zurkhammer’s front row seat. This time she was out of her normal jump shot range, but no worries, the ball blazed through the air and fell through the net, scorching the rim for three points. This girl was on fire from the tip-off and completed her night with a season-high, so far, 17 points. Lily Holmes scored a basket before the quarter closed and this gave Lincoln a substantial 68-24 lead.

Fourth Quarter

Let’s run through the fourth quarter quickly because that is what these Lincoln girls do. Mesa McCloud joined the fun with a three as the clock kept running. Makinley Knapp added a final free throw for Lincoln and the 72-26 victory was in the books.

Kloe Froebe led the team with 25 points.

Becca Heitzig hit a season-high of 17 points.

Lincoln improved to 8-0 on the season.

The Lady Railers will host Jacksonville on Saturday.

The JV game is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.

The Varsity game is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 72

Froebe 25
Heitzig 17
Stoltzenburg 6
Bowman 6
Whiteman 5
Geriets 4
Clark 3
McCloud 3
Holmes 2
Knapp 1

Metamora 26

Vaughan 10
Johnson 5
Hernandez 4
I. VandeSchraaf 4
T. VandeSchraaf 3

[Teena Lowery]