Former Lady Railers show support for this year’s undefeated team
And they plan to do it again this Saturday!

[January 20, 2023]

On Saturday, January 7, 2023, inside the Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium, there was a really big crowd on hand to see the undefeated 2022-23 Lady Railers take on the Mahomet-Seymour Bulldogs. The game was very important and Lincoln won handily, but something really special was going on in the corner section of the bleachers, across from where the visiting team always sits.

A group of former Lady Railer basketball players, two of whom turned into Lady Railer coaches, sat in the bleachers talking about their playing days and smiling about the memories they shared on and off the court.

First Row: Makayla Anderson, Ryen Stoltzenburg, Tori Schilling and Jan Bowers
Second Row: Barb (Verderber) Bowlby, Kim (Davis) Heitzig, Kim (McCuan) King and Vinnie Armstrong
Third Row: Vanessa (Gordon) Tibbs, Stacey Sparks, Erin Smith and Katie (Parn) Darnall
Fourth Row: Grace Bossingham, Jan (Smock) Malerich, Dana (Ebelherr) Bell and Pam (Musick) Turner
Fifth Row: Michelle (Williams) Bauer, Crystal (Wilson) Wurth and Sarah (McLaughlin) Ramlow

There was a lot of chatter to be heard and a lot of laughing going along with it. The ladies were certainly enjoying their time on the bleachers, all the while there to offer some extra-special support for the girls on the court.

And these special ladies plan on doing it again this Saturday as the Lady Railers take on the Peoria High School Lions, who will bring a 19-2 record into Lincoln. The matchup will definitely be one of the highlights of the season so far, with Lincoln (23-0) currently tied for the no. 3 spot in the IHSA Girls Basketball Class 3A poll and Peoria ranked at no. 2.

Nazareth is ranked no. 1 with a 19-1 record and Peoria Notre Dame is tied with Lincoln at no. 3.

While this season has really been fun to witness, as the current Lady Railers have been beating the majority of their opponents by large margins, it’s important to take a moment and look back at the success of the past teams in Lincoln girls basketball history.
 

1972-1973

Let’s start with the very first team in 1972-73. This team came about as a result of the passing of Title IX. Title IX was signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on June 23, 2022 and basically it granted equal opportunity to both men and women to participate in sports. The very first girls basketball team at Lincoln Community High School was coached by Jo Veile. Veile would also coach the first girls volleyball team that year as well.

That first team in school history went undefeated with a 10-0 record.

Members of that first team were: Pam (Musick) Turner, Becky (Logemann) Wheeler, Shawn McCullough, Terrie Young, Geri Migielicz, Lynda Mattson, Lynnette (Behrends) Bruce, Becky Gahr, Kathy Klink, Mary Mitchell, Cyndi (Slayton) Jackson, Joni Comstock, Ann (Stribling) Verderber and Jan (Smock) Malerich.

1977-1978

The 1977-78 team finished 2nd in State with a 24-3 record under Coach Don Fults. The IHSA State Girls Basketball Tournament was held at the Assembly Hall in Champaign for the first time that year. Jan Bowers, who also coached Lady Railer basketball, recalled that the very first IHSA State Tournament was actually held at Illinois State University.

Bowers also recounted a story about the 1977-78 season that ended in a 64-48 loss in the state championship game to Joliet West.

“We were called the Cinderella team as we knocked off several powerhouse teams to make it to the finals,” said Bowers, a junior on that team. “We were down 15-20 points at halftime of the Super-Sectional game but played an incredible second half to beat Peoria Limestone and earn a berth in the State tournament. We won the first round in a nail biter against Crystal Lake and then defeated Big 12 rival Mattoon in the quarterfinals. We just ran out of gas against the very deep and talented Joliet West team.”

Bowers noted that Pam Ritchhart was a key player on the boards that year for the Lady Railers.

1978-1979

The 1978-79 team ended the season with a 23-1 record with Don Fults as the head coach again. This team featured a trio of high scorers and was a dominant team all season long, suffering their only loss in the very last game of the season.

Jan Bowers and Barb (Verderber) Bowlby were seniors on this team and Stacy (Cook) Jackson was a junior. Bowers knew in her heart the Lady Railers were a better team during this season, but injury and tragedy would put an end to their plan to return to State.

“We were better our senior year,” said Bowers, who went on to coach at LCHS from 1985-1989. The team averaged 84 points per game and broke 100 six different times, according to Bowers. She added that this was achieved with the reserves playing most of the fourth quarter.

“My senior year is the year that we were a pure powerhouse,” explained Bowers, providing more details. “I averaged 24 points per game. Stacy averaged around 21 points per game and Barb was around 19 points per game.” Barb (Verderber) Bowlby was also a rebounding machine.

FORMER LADY RAILERS
Front Row: Jan Bowers, Barb Bowlby, Sarah Ramlow, Kim King, Dana Bell, Kim Heitzig and Michelle Bauer
Back Row: Pam Turner, Jan Malerich, Stacy (Cook) Jackson, Stacey Sparks, Lisa Cook, Erin Smith and Katie Darnell. 

Bowers went on to mention Gayle McRoberts and Gail Edwards as the other starters. Key players off the bench were Marla Sheley, Joyce Cook and the late Gigi Guy.

While the team was spectacular with a 23-0 record to start the season, Bowers explained what happened that kept the Lady Railers from a return trip to State.

“The last game of the season we were in Morton and we were beating them handily and Barb went up for a layup and they pushed her into the wall and she broke her elbow,” said Bowers, referring to the injury to Verderber.
 

Then tragedy struck. Bowers’ sister, Meria, passed away at the young age of 21. Bowers said she was one of the Lady Railers’ biggest fans and that she never missed a game while healthy. Meria passed away from Crohn’s disease.

“That was the time my sister actually passed away,” said Bowers. “It was the night we won the first round of sectionals. The day of our sectional final was her funeral.”

“It just wasn’t in the stars,” continued Bowers. “Barb tried to come back and play but she wasn’t 100 percent and then everybody was kind of in a mess about what had happened (to Meria).”

There are no words to convey the sadness that the team must have been feeling…

“Had we not had the unfortunate injury to Barb and my sister passing, I’m confident we would have won State that year,” said Bowers.

No doubt she is correct.

Bowers concluded by adding, “It was still a tremendous season in which we filled the gym for home games. Lincoln fans were incredible!”

It is also worth noting that Bowers said Don Fults was an amazing coach and he deserves credit for his success with the Lady Railers during his coaching tenure. In fact, Fults never had a losing season and his teams won over 20 games in four of the six seasons he coached. His final record was 115 wins and 20 losses.

Former coaches Jan (Smock) Malerich and Jan Bowers

Jan Smock took over coaching the Lady Railers after Fults left. Smock was then followed by Bowers at the helm. Val Scott then took over the program for two years following the exit by Bowers.

That leads the Lady Railers to the Ed Moore era.
 

1998-1999

The 1998-99 Lady Railers team finished 4th in the State with a 27-6 record under head coach Ed Moore.

Moore coached for 12 years and the Lady Railers had a 183-141 record under his leadership. He had some very dominating teams in the 90s.

The 1998-99 State team won the Super-Sectional over Peoria Notre Dame handily by a final score of 51-33. In the quarterfinals, Lincoln defeated Lyons Township High School of LaGrange 48-42. In the semifinals Lincoln lost to Galesburg 41-39. Glenbard West would then defeat Lincoln 41-39 in the third place game at State. Chicago Marshall won State that year by defeating Galesburg 68-56 in the State championship.

There will be more information on this 1998-99 team in a future article.

The current plan is for these former Lady Railers to return to the gym for the Lincoln versus Peoria game this Saturday, January 21, 2023.

Bowers is the ringleader responsible for getting the former athletes together. She anticipates even more former players to show up this time. Still there was a great turnout of former Lady Railers on a short notice for the game versus Mahomet-Seymour back on January 7th.

So finally, let's pack the gym on Saturday for the Lincoln Lady Railers!

[Teena Lowery]