Lady Railers demolish the Tornadoes 76-47

Team improves to 29-0
 

[February 08, 2023] The Lady Railers hosted Taylorville on Tuesday night for the final home game of the regular season and with a terrific crowd on hand, the ladies defeated a very talented Tornadoes team rather handily. This was another running clock affair in the fourth quarter and the Lady Railers won 76-47.

After a scoreless first minute of the game, the Lady Railers finally got cranked up like a little wind-up toy from the 70s and when that happens all you can do is sit back, watch ‘em run and enjoy the show. Tori Geriets was the first Lady Railer to sink a basket, courtesy of Kloe Froebe on the steal and the assist. Then it was Taryn Stoltzenburg nailing a three for Lincoln. At the 6:05 mark it was Jenna Bowman dribbling in the paint and swishing one in from about eight feet. Lincoln was up 7-0. After Froebe bounced one through the hoop just under the five minute mark, the Lady Railers had a 9-3 lead. The Tornadoes made their second three of the game to trim the lead to 9-6 and you could tell the Lady Railers were really enjoying a challenge. Froebe would score the next seven points for Lincoln and give the Lady Railers a 17-11 advantage. With Piper Whiteman sinking a three with 24.0 seconds left, Lincoln had a 20-11 lead after the first quarter of nonstop action.

Becca Heitzig banked one in to start the Lincoln scoring in the second quarter. Near the 6:40 mark Bowman grabbed the money ball and she was a sure bet from the corner. Her three stretched the lead to 25-13. Twenty-three seconds later after a steal, Froebe was like, “Let me see that money ball.” She launched a three and it was nothing but net. The Tornadoes had a hot shooter in Kyleigh Heimsness, but luckily she made her only 3s in the first half. The Tornadoes may have had a height advantage, but the quickness of the Lady Railers won out and steal after steal led to buckets. After Froebe, Geriets and Bowman scored on a little run, the Taylorville coach called a timeout with the score 37-16. With 1:11 left in the second quarter, Bowman scored another three and the score had escalated to 41-18. Whiteman sank three free throws to end the scoring in the quarter and the Lady Railers trotted off to the locker room on top 44-20.

The Lady Railers just continued to impress in the third quarter with their incredible ball movement. The team was able to find Stoltzenburg and Whiteman for 3s and there were numerous steals in the quarter that led to scoring. The quarter was filled with some terrific bounce passes too. Maybe you had to be there in person to really catch everything that was going on. But thankfully a lot of people were there in person, with both sides of the bleachers open and pretty much filled. By the time the third quarter ended, the Lady Railers were on top 64-33.

Let that clock run. It looks like Bowman and Froebe were the big scorers of the fourth quarter, with each of them draining one more three before hitting the bench. They poured in other shots too, but with the quarter flying by and Taylorville just wanting to get out of town, the end couldn’t come quick enough. Lincoln wins by a final score of 76-47. Again, Taylorville is a very good team with good ball handlers, good shooters and a 6’4 sophomore named Mazie Fleming.

Your Lady Railers are JUST THAT GOOD.

Four Lady Railers hit double-figures against Taylorville. Kloe Froebe led everyone with 29 points. Jenna Bowman was on the money with 16 points. Taryn Stoltzenburg had a terrific game with 11 points and countless steals.

Piper Whiteman tossed in 11 points and continues to play fantastic with this group of juniors. Whiteman had to battle hard all night long in the lane with that 6’4 girl on her back constantly. Whiteman held her own. She has three brothers. She knows what it takes.

The great game of Tori Geriets is not to be overlooked either. She had some great passes in the game and she was the one doing a lot banging underneath that basket with the 6’4 girl, too. Geriets was consistent in the paint with seven points scored.

And last but not least in the scoring column was Becca Heitzig. She played more and more minutes tonight and is showing signs of improvement each game. Her willingness to get in there and battle is admirable. She is a fighter and time after time on Tuesday night she was right where she wanted to be: in the middle of the action.

All in all, it was a fabulous last home game for these ladies. Great crowd on hand, a band and even the lights out for the starting lineups. And hold up, the ladies even got to run out through the Railer Man banner. Pretty cool, even if it only happens once a season.

Your Lady Railers are now 29-0 on the season. Lincoln is 11-0 in the Apollo Conference.

Taylorville falls to 22-8 on the season. The Tornadoes are 8-4 in the Apollo Conference.

And let’s take a moment to toot the horn of the JV team. They won again. This time the Lincoln JV team won 60-18. They have just dominated the competition all season long, too.

Three players scored in double-figures: Makinley Knapp (14), Ceana Adams (13) and Mia Clark (12).

The JV team improves to 18-0 on the season.

The Lady Railers play their final regular season game on Thursday night when they travel to Mahomet-Seymour. The JV game will start at 6 p.m. and the Varsity will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 76
Froebe 29
Bowman 16
Stoltzenburg 11
Whiteman 11
Geriets 7
Heitzig 2

Taylorville 47
Fleming 20
Woodward 7
Kietzman 6
Heimsness 6
Champley 5
McCullough 3

JV scoring

Lincoln 60
Knapp 14
Adams 13
Clark 12
Schneider 8
McCloud 8
Holmes 5

Taylorville 18
Polley 8
Czajkowski 3
Graziano 3
Heberling 2
DeMichael 2

[Teena Lowery]