High School Girls Basketball
2023 Manual Holiday Girls Basketball Tournament
Lady Railers win the tournament championship

 

[December 30, 2023] 

The Lady Railers defeated the Peoria Central Lions 57-25 on Friday night to win the 2023 Manual Holiday Girls Basketball Tournament championship.

Lincoln continues their perfect season with a 17-0 record while the Lions record is now 16-1.

The win should undoubtedly give Lincoln a no. 1 state ranking when the new polls come out.

The big story here tonight was supposed to feature Kloe Froebe versus Aaliyah Guyton, preferably battling on the court for four quarters. Unfortunately for Guyton she went down with an injury in the second quarter. Guyton would spend the second half of the game on the bench with ice on her knee.

Froebe, however, was in the starting lineup after missing Thursday night’s game due to an issue with her foot. Froebe would finish the game versus Peoria Central with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. She is one tough competitor.

First Quarter

Piper Whiteman earned a spot in the starting lineup for the second consecutive game and she was joined by Kloe Froebe, Taryn Stoltzenburg, Becca Heitzig and Jenna Bowman as the ball was tipped in the air just shy of 6:45 p.m. Lincoln controlled the tip and it took Heitzig all of fifteen seconds to put Lincoln on the scoreboard. Her short jumper in the lane hit nothing but net and the Lady Railers were on top 2-0. Peoria tied the game 2-2 with 6:35 on the clock and it was evident early on the packed Peoria gym was going to be rockin’ with every point scored. Froebe and her friends made sure the Lincoln fans were heard as they stormed out to a 6-2 lead and forced the Lions to call a timeout with 3:58 on the clock. Froebe was working hard in the paint and she pushed her way to the basket to put Lincoln up 8-2 around the three minute mark. Froebe would score one more time in the quarter on another drive to the basket, but the Lions were doing a good job of playing catch up. With Lincoln in the lead 10-6, Aaliyah Guyton would sink her first basket of the game, a long three in front of the Peoria crowd at the 1:21 mark. She earned herself a huge roar from the crowd on that shot and kept her team’s energy up as they trailed just 10-9 when the quarter ended.

Second Quarter

The Lions stole the lead quickly in the second quarter, only to have Whiteman take it back with one of her “rainbow threes” as WLCN announcer Jay Hardin calls it. It was a beautiful shot from the corner in front of the Lady Railer fans and it put Lincoln back on top 13-11. At precisely the six minute mark Froebe tossed in her own rebound for two more points and Lincoln was up 15-11. The way Froebe was taking it to the lane and getting knocked down, she will probably have more than a sore foot in the morning, but for now she was able to knock those free throws down and give Lincoln a 17-13 lead with 4:24 remaining in the quarter. Twenty seconds later it would be Danielle Ruffin with a three and the Lincoln lead was a slim 17-16. At the 3:42 mark Guyton went up for a layup with Heitzig chasing her and while the Iowa commit made the basket to give her team an 18-17 lead, she went down in pain with an apparent injury to her knee. She limped off the court assisted and would spend the second half on the bench with ice on her knee. Back on the court, it would be Heitzig hitting another short jumper to give Lincoln a 19-18 edge. And finally it was Jakiyah Jackson with the last basket of the half, a three at the 1:20 mark that would put the Lions in front 21-19. At this moment in time it really looked like the battle back and forth between these two teams was going to continue.

The next generation of Railers here: Little brothers Whiteman, Stoltzenburg and Froebe

Third Quarter

Geriets was fouled quickly in the third quarter as she was battling in the lane for a shot after a rebound. She made the two free throws to tie the game 21-21. The Lions sank one free throw at the 6:21 mark to go ahead 22-21. But with Heitzig really intent on a win she made a two-point field goal from the corner to put her team back on top. This time it was for good. Lincoln would not surrender the lead again. After Froebe pulled down a defensive rebound and fired a bullet pass ahead to Heitzig, who in turn found a speeding Stoltzenburg racing towards the basket, the Lincoln lead was extended to 25-22. Because even though Stoltzenburg was running faster than Taylor Swift after a concert into the arms of Travis Kelce and she would have ran past the basket, Stoltzenburg managed to knock in two points, courtesy of the handy backboard, of course. Leave it to these little Logan County friends to show the big city girls how teamwork works. Then Bowman added a basket and the lead grew to 27-22. Next up it was Froebe to Heitzig to Geriets, who did a nice job using the backboard and putting up two more points off the fast break. At the 4:07 mark the Lions sank another free throw to make the score 29-23. But Lincoln was playing terrific defense in the third quarter and a Froebe steal translated into another bucket. Once again, Heitzig collected the pass from Froebe and found Stoltzenburg for the basket. The speed of this trio seemed to take the Lions by surprise. At any rate Lincoln was on top 31-23 with the Lions only hope of scoring from the charity stripe really.

Peoria would collect one more point in the quarter at the 2:35 mark by way of a free throw and no wonder the Lions fans were a little restless. Lincoln, on the other end, put up six more points to finish the quarter strong. After Whiteman made two free throws at the 1:35 mark, Froebe made two field goals to complete the third quarter scoring with Lincoln on top 37-24. This third quarter was a great example of how once the Lady Railers offense gets rolling, it’s like a runaway train.

Fourth Quarter

Whiteman extended the lead to 39-24 early in the fourth quarter. Lincoln allowed the Lions a free throw at the 6:05 mark and that concluded the Peoria offense for the night. Who had Lincoln going on an “18-0 run to end the game” on their bingo card? Oh wait, and against the no. 1 ranked team in the state? Let’s get this fourth quarter over so the ladies can collect a trophy. While there would be no running clock in this game, there was a Whiteman and a Froebe knocking down shots to give Lincoln a 20-point lead with 4:21 left to play. It is such a joy to type those same last names year after year. And hey, throw a Stoltzenburg in there and you’ve got a 48-25 lead now. Heitzig would make it double or nothing with her shot that made the score 50-25. Crazy. Before Froebe and Heitzig exited the game, they each tossed in one more basket. The starters were all on the bench by the 1:20 mark with the score 54-25. Mia Clark made one last three-point basket for Lincoln right in front of the Peoria fans with 1:05 remaining and that really was the end of this highly-anticipated matchup.

The Senior Five Celebrate the championship
Photo by Amanda Bowman

Lincoln was announced as tournament champions shortly after the final score of 57-25 was reached and after they collected the trophy and took the usual pictures afterwards (with Amanda Bowman filling in at the end for Lynn Paulus), it was time to board the bus back to Lincoln.

Froebe was the leading scorer versus Peoria Central with 20 points.

Piper Whiteman hit double-figures again with 11 points.

Becca Heitzig flat-out out ran the Lions and she beat them to the basket for 10 points.

Lincoln’s next game will be at home on January 4, 2024 versus Pleasant Plains.

Happy New Year!

Just a couple quick notes:

Prior to the game, Kloe Froebe and Becca Heitzig were named to the all-tournament team. Congratulations!

Kari Froebe talks on the radio/tv broadcasts about defense winning ballgames and she is 110 percent correct. Coach Taylor Rohrer also always joins the postgame show and she, too, emphasizes the Lady Railers incredible defense. The game against Peoria really showcased Lincoln’s spectacular defense that is sure to carry them to a no. 1 state-ranking real soon.

Peoria Central failed to make a field goal in the second half. They only scored four free throws the entire sixteen minutes. That’s some pretty good defense by Lincoln.

The Lions were 4-for-14 from the free throw line. The Lady Railers were 11-for-12 from the free throw line.

Fans watching and listening from home may have noticed Jay Hardin was absent from the broadcast but the legendary Bob "Bobby V" Verderber filled in and did a fantastic job, along with Kari Froebe.

Thanks to the Peoria Manual Pep Band for bringing the energy to the gym in the first place. A lively gym atmosphere is simply put, FUN!

Lincoln fans, our thoughts need to go out to Peoria Central's star, Aaliyah Guyton. No one wants to see a player get injured and hopefully her recovery is a speedy one.

And finally the gym was pretty full of Lincoln fans, considering there was also a Lincoln boys game going on, and that was great to see on a Friday night. Girls basketball deserves the recognition. Your chances of seeing these Lady Railers in person in 2024 is getting slim, so mark the following dates on your calendar now for home games and find your way to Roy S. Anderson to cheer on these amazing athletes in person. You won’t regret it.

January 4 vs. Pleasant Plains
January 16 vs. Mt. Zion
January 23 vs. Springfield
January 30 vs. Mahomet-Seymour

Lincoln 57

Froebe 20
Whiteman 11
Heitzig 10
Stoltzenburg 7
Geriets 4
Clark 3
Bowman 2

Peoria Central 25

Jordan 9
Guyton 5
Rutherford 5
Ruffin 5
Jackson 1

[Teena Lowery]