Lady Railers grab regional title, defeating Champaign Central 74-37
Team improves to 32-0

 

[February 20, 2023]  Tell all your friends to hop in the car as the road trip continues. The LCHS Lady Railers Basketball team is moving on to the Class 3A Sectional Tournament in Rochester this week after defeating Champaign Central 74-37 on Friday night. The new regional champs put on quite a show at Bloomington High School in front of a phenomenal crowd from Lincoln.

The gym was packed with Lincoln fans who surrounded the maybe couple dozen fans that Champaign Central had in attendance. On one end of the bleachers Railer Nation had taken over and they were decked out in their favorite basketball jerseys and on the opposite end the former Lady Railers filled the stands adorned with their matching shirts. Both groups cheered all evening long in support of their team. At one point, Barb Verderber Bowlby had to run down to Railer Nation and teach them a cheer real quick. You faithful know the cheer from back in the day, “We got spirit, yes we do, we got spirit, how ‘bout you?!” The younger generation was quick to pick it up after a little coaching from Bowlby and chances are pretty good Bowlby will keep persuading them from here on out.

There are so many great things about this Lady Railer team, but one thing that they have done well all season long is get off to a quick start and pretty much beat their opponents in the first quarter. These girls are so fast after the opening jump ball that within minutes they generally have a double-digit lead and the opposing coach is left with no choice but to call a timeout. In all honesty, what do you even tell your team if you’re the opposing coach?

For example on Friday night in Bloomington, the Lady Railers had a 16-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game. First it was Tori Geriets with the opening bucket on the assist from Kloe Froebe, then it was Taryn Stoltzenburg with the basket on the assist from Heitzig and then it was Jenna Bowman tossing in a three. So that was a 7-0 lead in under two minutes.

The next two minutes saw Becca Heitzig score on a little baseline jumper, Kloe Froebe swipe the ball and get a layup, Stoltzenburg drained a three and then Geriets was perfection with the straight on bank shot in the middle of the lane. It was all so beautiful.

With exactly four minutes on the clock the Maroons called a timeout down 16-0. They were clearly discombobulated.

The Lady Railers emerged from their huddle ready to roll out some more points. Bowman scored a two off the inbounds pass, Geriets picked up another bucket off the dish from Piper Whiteman and then Froebe scored again on a nice little jumper in the lane. That left the Maroons in a 22-0 hole that was going to be impossible to dig out of against this Lady Railer team.

The Maroons would finally score at the 1:56 mark and that made the score 22-2. Froebe answered quickly with a three and that would cause the Maroons coach to use up another timeout. As the seconds ticked down the Lady Railers put up two more points courtesy of Froebe at the free throw line and Lincoln’s first quarter lead was 27-7. Just a typical first quarter of Lincoln girls basketball.

Lincoln did spend the first two minutes of the second quarter scoreless, but once they got in a groove there was no stopping them again. Heitzig pulled down a defensive rebound and she tossed the ball ahead to Whiteman on the fast break and the sophomore scored. Those points would be followed by baskets by Froebe and Heitzig and the result was a 36-9 Lincoln lead near the halfway point of the quarter. Froebe also took matters into her own hands and drove the lane a few times to create some offense. And then, just like old times, it was Froebe pulling down a defensive rebound and she tossed the long pass ahead to a sprinting Heitzig who was able to catch up to it easily and do a little stop ’n pop for two. The Lincoln lead was now 41-13. Four more points from Froebe increased the lead to 45-16. After a three from the wing by Whiteman the score was 48-16 and too bad the running clock can’t start in the third quarter. The halftime score would be set in stone at 49-16 following one more free throw by Froebe.

Third quarter action began with a Froebe steal and two points. Then it was Bowman with the tough offensive rebound and tossing it over to Heitzig for two points. To top off the little run the Lady Railers used some fantastic ball movement that featured Heitzig to Froebe to Geriets under the basket for two points. The lead was now 55-18 and the fans were loving every second of the fast-paced action.

With Froebe going on a 6-0 run, the lead increased to 61-20 near the three minute mark. Heitzig would join the offensive fun and between her and Froebe the third quarter score would be 68-25.

Bring on that running clock in the regional final!

Geriets was joined by Makinley Knapp and Mia Clark in the scoring column in the fourth quarter and in a New York minute the game was over with the final score being 74-37.

Kloe Froebe led Lincoln with 33 points. Becca Heitzig reached double-digits with 12 points as did Tori Geriets, who had 10 points.

Congratulations on the Regional Championship, Lady Railers!

Now let’s take a moment to show appreciation for the huge Lincoln crowd that filled the gym early and was eager to cheer on their Lady Railers with enthusiasm and energy. The fans brought their A game and the Lady Railers on the court were well aware of the support.

“The crowd was just amazing,” said Kloe Froebe. “Right from the beginning, the crowd was such a great energy source and they did not let up even when we were up 30 points. It’s so great having this type of support and it, without a doubt, helps lead us to victory. Lincoln truly is an amazing place.”

“I agree with Kloe,” said Piper Whiteman. “It’s so awesome to see the community come out and support us. Not only did the energy from the crowd feed us and hype us up, I’m sure it was also intimidating for the other team. I just love seeing all the faces in the crowd cheer for us, and it truly does help us towards a victory.”

“We absolutely love seeing the former Lady Railers coming out and supporting us,” said Tori Geriets. “We can feel their excitement and enthusiasm while we are on the court. We love that they never stop cheering until the end of the game, even if we are up by a lot. They have truly proven that once you’re a Lady Railer, you’re always a Lady Railer.”

“I agree,” said Taryn Stoltzenburg. “Knowing all of those people came to watch and support us was a true motivator. The crowd really showed up and Railer Nation did not disappoint.”

“Looking into the crowd I realized that I am not playing just for me,” said Becca Heitzig. “I'm playing for them and the one who put me here. It's good to see people coming together because it is something we've missed since Covid!”

“The crowd with fans of all ages really sets the tone for our game,” said Jenna Bowman. “One of my favorite things that I noticed was when the alumni and the student section were both doing the “We Got Spirit” cheer. Seeing the past students with current students is not something you see often at a high school game. I really appreciate the whole community coming out to support us.”

Whiteman added, “I agree with everyone, seeing all the alumni come out really just puts a big smile on my face and like Becca said, we are not only playing for us, but our community as well.”



These girls really get it. And here is something else they get: their influence on the next generation. For example, following the win there was a picture captured of Kloe Froebe down on the gym floor, signing for a group of little girls. Word has it that several of the Lady Railers signed autographs after the game. Now how cool is that?!

Whiteman explained a little bit about how this came to be and she referenced a Facebook post by coaching legend and current WLCN color commentator, Kari Froebe. Froebe noted in her post that she would always give one of her favorite poems titled “Little Eyes Upon You” to her teams that she coached.



“If you’ve seen Kari’s post, she had a poem about little eyes and how they are always watching,” said Whiteman. “And after the game, when all these little girls came running up, I realized that not only are the alumni watching, but the future Lady Railers are watching us on and off the court. It really just warms my heart to see them so excited about coming to the game and watching us play, I feel almost like a celebrity.”

Well, these ladies are quickly becoming celebrities, and not just to the little eyes watching them. They’ve inspired a community to come together, reconnecting with old friends and making new friends along the way.

So fill up that tank and get ready to hit the road to Rochester.

The Lady Railers will play Mount Zion on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in the sectional semifinal hosted by Rochester High School.

Rochester and Mahomet-Seymour will face each other in the 7:30 p.m. game.

The winners will meet for the championship on Thursday, February 23, 2023, at 7:00 p.m.

Scoring

Lincoln 74
Froebe 33
Heitzig 12
Geriets 10
Stoltzenburg 5
Bowman 5
Whiteman 5
Clark 2
Knapp 2

Champaign Central 37
Ramshaw 10
McCloud 10
Essien 8
Alexander 4
Boland 3
Robinson 2

[Teena Lowery]
[Photos by Lowery and Kari Froebe}]