Lady Railers get revenge 2.0 versus the Bulldogs
Team improves to 30-0
Kloe Froebe breaks season scoring record previously set by Steph Reichle
 

[February 13, 2023] Thursday night the Lady Railers traveled to the home of the Mahomet-Seymour Bulldogs for the last regular season game and it was a terrific way to end things. The Bulldogs and their fans were pumped up for the matchup and they brought out more cheerleaders and dancers than the Super Bowl for the evening’s festivities. They also had a phenomenal band to entertain the crowd. The gym’s atmosphere definitely favored the Bulldogs but despite the sixth man wearing stripes, the Lady Railers remained locked in and kept their focus on the court. When the buzzer sounded after a very physical 32 minutes of basketball, the Lady Railers came out on top with a well-played 65-46 win.

Don’t be fooled by the final score, the win was far from easy, with the Bulldogs playing some pretty spectacular defense on these Lady Railers. But our girls needed that and they were certainly unfazed by the pressure. It was a good warmup for them heading into the postseason this week.

The Lincoln scoring versus Mahomet-Seymour did begin in pretty typical fashion, with Kloe Froebe finding her way to the bucket for the first two points. Durbin Thomas would quickly answer with a three though and that got the Bulldogs crowd fired up. Tori Geriets would give Lincoln a 4-3 lead with her basket off the rebound, something she’s really been good at lately. After Froebe’s two free throws, Lincoln was still in front with a 6-3 lead. The Bulldogs Kylie Waldinger sank a three just under the four minute mark and the score was 6-5. As the three minute mark approached, Piper Whiteman hit a long three for the Lady Railers to extend the lead to 9-5. Thomas scored another three with 1:22 on the clock and the Bulldogs were proving they were up for a fight. Two free throws by Savannah Orgeron put the Bulldogs on top 10-9 with 43.2 seconds left and that’s exactly how the first quarter scoring would end.

Taryn Stoltzenburg tied things up in the second quarter on a free throw. Becca Heitzig would then give the Lady Railers a 12-10 lead with her baseline jumper that bounced through the rim. Leave it to the Bulldogs to tie the game again and boy, this was going to be a dogfight. After Froebe tied the game on free throws, Thomas put the Bulldogs up 15-14 on yet another three. But leave it to Stoltzenburg to just quietly sink a three to put the Lady Railers back on top. This would ignite something in the Lady Railers and they would finish the second quarter strong, very strong! Right after Stoltzenburg’s three, Heitzig comfortably hit another mid-range jumper and the lead was now 19-15. Following that little move was Froebe going coast-to-coast for the layup and the 21-15 lead. Bowman made the next bucket for the Lady Railers, on the assist from Geriets, and the girls dressed in green, who had been mistaken for Mattoon by the sixth man, were definitely riding a wave with a 23-17 lead. And the fun wasn’t over yet. With 36.2 seconds left in the quarter, Froebe would launch a full court pass ahead to a sprinting Heitzig and she would lay it in for two more points, giving the Lady Railers a 25-17 halftime lead.

Let the band play on ‘cause the music was good and the Lady Railers were finding a rhythm.

The Bulldogs pulled to within five points early in the third quarter, but with the Lady Railers keeping their head in the game, they managed a 10-point lead by the time the three minute mark rolled around. But the Bulldogs have always been a great shooting team from the field and after Ellie Dallas sank a three, the lead was trimmed to 35-29. Lincoln was about to embark on an 11-0 run to end the third quarter and here’s how things went down: after Heitzig hit 4-for-4 from the free throw line, Whiteman hit a three off the inbounds play, then Froebe stole the ball on the Bulldogs inbounds and with three people hanging on her like she was a clothesline she still scored and finally no. 5 stole the ball again and this time she was fouled. Froebe sank those two free throw shots and the Lincoln lead was all of a sudden 46-29. In fact, eight of those points were scored in a matter of say twenty seconds. The fast and the furious are at it again.

Moving into the fourth quarter, the Lady Railers starters got an opportunity to see more time on the court, since they didn’t have a 30-point lead. And there is no quit in this Bulldog team either so another eight minutes of intense basketball was on the way. Mahomet-Seymour continued to sink their 3s in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Railers were always ready to answer. Froebe would guide the team down the stretch with 13 points and with Bowman, Heitzig and Geriets also scoring, Lincoln went on to capture the 65-46 win. Or call it revenge 2.0 because after the Bulldogs were the team that ended the Lady Railers 2022 season and actually swept them three times in the 2021-22 season, Lincoln has now defeated the Bulldogs twice this season. They might meet again, so stay tuned.

Kloe Froebe led all scorers with 29 points. And in the process she broke the record of most points scored in a season. The old record of 807 points was set by Steph Reichle. Froebe currently sits at 833 points scored this season.

Becca Heitzig scored a high of 16 points, since her return from the injured list that is.

Rumor had it that after the game the Bulldogs announcers were calling Froebe and Heitzig “Batman” and “Robin” and that’s quite a compliment.

So with that let’s roll into some postgame comments from “Batman” and “Robin” from Lincoln, IL.

“Tonight was a really good win against a great Mahomet-Seymour team,” began Froebe. “They definitely challenged us in ways that we haven’t seen yet this year which allows us to see the things we need to work on these next few practices before postseason starts Tuesday. There were definitely some huge momentum shifts in the second quarter and into the third quarter that were really big in helping secure the win for us.”

As for the 30-0 history-making regular season record, Froebe shared, “For about twenty seconds walking through the line at the end of the game it felt great realizing we managed to finish with a perfect regular season, but after we shook hands and stepped into the locker room everything erased. I looked at my teammates and knew that everything we’ve done so far is in the past we’re back to 0-0. The future we’ve been working so hard for all year long is finally here. It’s not going to be a walk in the park, it’s going to be a battle every single day, but I know we’re not ones to back down.”

No, these girls don’t back down from anything and like LCHS Girls Track and Field coach Gayal Rademaker observed of Froebe during the game, “She is fearless under the basket.”

The other half of that fearless superhero duo is Becca Heitzig. Heitzig just recently returned to the court following an injury to her hand, and while maybe she’s played a little cautious, it looks like she is returning to her old self quicker than anticipated. Heitzig knew the importance of the game with the Bulldogs and she put her cape on and went to work.

“Mahomet was definitely out to get us tonight,” said Heitzig. “Once I realized that this game was not going to be a walk in the park, my mind switched over. I stopped thinking and just played.”

“Everyone was a part of the win tonight: Kloe not just with her points but with assists and defense, Jenna with rebounds, Taryn with steals, Piper with crucial threes, and Tori with mid-range shots,” said Heitzig. “The people on the court are not the only ones who contributed to this win. Our coaches are always advising and pushing us, the people on the bench are preparing us in practice and cheering us on and our crowd is always supporting us. And for me, God, for telling me to stop being afraid.”

God and good basketball has without a doubt guided these Lady Railers to a perfect 30-0 season.

They also end the season with a perfect 12-0 record on top of the Apollo Conference.

In the JV game, the Bulldogs spoiled the perfect season of the Lady Railers by defeating them 52-43. Lincoln had a slim lead going into the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs would tie the game 39-39 at the 7:30 mark. With the two teams trading baskets, the win was up for grabs until the Bulldogs took a 46-43 lead with 2:35 left to play. In the final minutes of the game, the Lady Railers missed a few scoring opportunities and it hurt them. The Bulldogs would make 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the remaining seconds of the game and seal the 52-43 win over Lincoln.

Mia Clark led Lincoln with 14 points. Lily Holmes tossed in 11 points before going down with an ankle injury late in the game.

The JV team ends their terrific season with an 18-1 record.



Congratulations, Lady Railers!

As of 2-12-23 these two undefeated teams deserve more recognition and they are:

Lincoln Lady Railers 30-0

South Carolina Gamecocks 25-0

The Gamecocks incidentally feature a former Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year for girls basketball in Brea Beal of Rock Island. Beal actually won the award three years in a row, matching that of another standout in Illinois girls basketball by the name of Candace Parker.

And remember for the second year in a row, Lincoln’s Kloe Froebe is up for this prestigious award.

And don’t forget, your Lady Railers will begin their postseason run tomorrow night (Tuesday) in Bloomington. Lincoln will play Rantoul at 6 p.m. at Bloomington High School in the Class 3A Regional.

Varsity scoring

Lincoln 65
Froebe 29
Heitzig 16
Whiteman 6
Geriets 6
Stoltzenburg 4
Bowman 4

Mahomet-Seymour 46
Thomas 17
Orgeron 13
Waldinger 8
Bunting 4
Dallas 2
Gallier 2

JV scoring

Lincoln 43
Clark 14
Holmes 11
Knapp 8
Schneider 6
Adams 2
McCloud 2

Mahomet-Seymour 52
Dallas 24
Campion 12
Binkley 8
Yeakel 6
Carney 2

[Teena Lowery]

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