Morton takes regional title over Lincoln 48-40

 

[February 21, 2025]  The Lincoln Lady Railers season came to an end Thursday night with a 48-40 loss to the Morton Potters in the Class 3A Regional at Peoria High School.

The Lady Railers led 10-8 after the first quarter, with Makinley Knapp pouring in six points in the paint to lead Lincoln.

In the second quarter the Lady Railers saw a 22-18 lead disappear after some heated moments on the court.

Morton’s coach, Bob Becker, was called for a technical foul after 6’0 sophomore Abby VanMeenen hit the court hard after getting tangled up with Piper Whiteman.

Whiteman was called for the intentional foul.

When the drama settled, the Potters ran off ten straight points in the final two minutes and twenty-four seconds to take a 28-22 lead into the locker room.

After buckets by Knapp and Mia Clark in the third quarter, the Lady Railers were down 30-27. The fouls were getting pretty lopsided at this point and even Coach Taylor Rohrer told the refs, “You gotta call that both ways.”

By the time the third quarter ended, Lincoln was down 36-31.

Within the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, the Lady Railers had scored two 3s and managed to tie the game 37-37. A minute later the Potters went ahead on a basket and never looked back. Lincoln was outscored 11-3 in the last four minutes of the quarter.

The Lady Railers watch as Morton is announced as regional champions. Photo by Teena Lowery

With under a minute to go the Potters lead was 43-40 and still Lincoln could not get the call or the play they needed to push through. Lily Holmes even took an elbow to the mouth and was called for a foul. The Potters sank 7-of-8 free throws to help them seal the 48-40 win and they were elated to knock Lincoln out of the postseason.

Lincoln ends their season with a lot of tears and a 19-13 record.

Morton wins the regional championship with a 24-6 record.

Lincoln 40
Clark 9
Whiteman 9
Knapp 8
McCloud 6
Schneider 6
Holmes 2

Morton 48
E. VanMeenen 22
Selke 12
VanMeenen 7
Laufenberg 3
Ceresa 2
Brock 2

[Teena Lowery]