Lady Railers come up short 44-42
versus Saints
[November 20, 2024]
A great crowd showed up on Tuesday night as the 2024-25 Lady
Railers revealed new home uniforms with checkered green and white
squares up and down both sides of the jerseys and the shorts just
prior to their game with the Bloomington Central Catholic Saints.
Fans showed up not only to support this year’s team but to also see
the official unveiling of the 2024 State Championship banner.
Video - State Championship
banner unveiling ceremony
With the starting five from the championship team all out of town
(and some out of state) these days at their respective colleges, it
was pretty clear that it would be hard for any of them to attend the
banner ceremony.
That’s why when Tori Geriets showed up during the JV game, fans were
really excited to see her. Geriets had made the long haul from
Naperville with her roommate, who has a sister playing for
Bloomington Central Catholic. Geriets also said she had an early
basketball practice that let out at 2:00 p.m. so she was able to
arrive in plenty of time.
Passing the playlist ~ Ryan Fruge trains Elijah
Crawford on how to set up the hype music. Photo by Teena Lowery
Student assistants Ryan Fruge and Destinee Harper were also able to
attend the ceremony. Fruge was even training Elijah Crawford as the
next music director for the basketball team. The two were seated at
the scorer’s table during the game as Fruge instructed Crawford on
what to play and when. The timing of the music is very important to
any basketball team.
After players, coaches and managers were recognized on the court and
the banner was unveiled it was time to get the ballgame started.
There were probably less nerves on Opening Night for “Wicked” on
October 30, 2003 than there were for the starting five of the Lady
Railers on this night.
That state championship team is a tough act to follow and it was
Lily Holmes, Grace Schneider, Mesa McCloud, Mia Clark and Makinley
Knapp who got the nod to fill those shoes.
Knapp would control the opening tip for Lincoln and this Lady
Railers team was off and running.
First Quarter
Mia Clark drove the lane and made the first points of the 2024-25
season with 6:56 on the clock to put Lincoln up 2-0. Twenty-three
seconds later it was Makinley Knapp with a bucket in the lane and
Lincoln was up 4-0. The Saints were quick to tie the game with two
baskets in sixteen seconds. Lincoln would go ahead a minute and a
half later when Clark hit the first three of the game. Two minutes
later the Saints were able to tie the game 7-7. After Ceana Adams
got another shot at a free throw thanks to a lane violation, Lincoln
jumped on top 8-7 with less than thirty seconds left in the quarter.
With time expiring the Saints tossed up a shot in the lane that was
good for a 9-8 lead and that brought the first quarter to a close.
Second Quarter
The Saints scored two 3s in the second quarter to extend their lead
to 15-8. Mesa McCloud would finally break the scoring drought for
Lincoln with a three at the 4:55 mark. A minute later it was Knapp
with a free throw to pull her team closer, 15-12 the Saints lead.
Here comes McCloud again with a corner three to tie the game at the
2:55 mark. Lily Holmes put Lincoln up 18-15 as she drove the lane
and drew the foul. Her layup and the ‘and one’ breathed new life
into the student section and the rest of the Lady Railer fans. With
just less than forty seconds remaining until halftime, Knapp
collected the bounce pass from Holmes and she scored in the lane to
keep Lincoln on top 20-17. The Saints would not only tie the game on
a three shortly thereafter, but a steal would give them the
opportunity to go ahead 22-20 as the quarter ended.
Third Quarter
With Holmes tossing in the only bucket for Lincoln in the first
three minutes of play in the third quarter, the Lady Railers would
find themselves in a bigger deficit, down 28-22. Turnovers were just
killing Lincoln and around the two minute mark the score heavily
favored the Saints, 35-25 now the score. Fouls were just abundant
too and each side finished the scoring at the free throw in the
third quarter. When the dust was settled and everyone had picked
themselves up off the floor, there was no major bleeding, but the
Lady Railers were on the short end of a 37-28 score.
Fourth Quarter
The game could have really gotten out of reach in the fourth
quarter, but instead these Lady Railers continued to battle and made
it a ballgame. With Knapp, Holmes and Clark each sinking a basket in
the paint, the score was 43-34 at the 4:30 mark. Grace Schneider’s
basket twenty seconds later closed the gap to 43-36. Twenty-five
seconds later Clark sank a long two and the fans were going crazy
with the score 43-38.
A series of attempts that followed really was heartbreaking and like
that old cliche “that’s how the ball bounces” the next few missed
shots would leave the girls and the fans gutted. First, Clark had a
great look at the basket at the 2:25 mark and she tossed up a
good-looking three and it went in and then spiraled out of the rim.
Next Holmes had a nice opportunity for a layup and she took it, and
the ball rolled around the rim and out. But hey, Knapp would grab
the offensive rebound and using the backboard, she got the shot to
fall! With 2:08 left to play, the Lady Railers were down just 43-40.
Lincoln was going to get a chance to tie the game near the one
minute mark and again it was Clark throwing up a good shot that had
the perfect arch and if it went in it was going to be a three. Well,
this one hit the back of the rim and the front of the rim and it
bounced out and into the hands of the Saints. Talk about a punch in
the gut. The entire Lady Railer fan base let out a heavy sigh. But
there was still plenty of time to win this ballgame. The Saints
turned the ball over with forty-five seconds left.
[to top of second column] |
Members of the 2024 State Championship team were recognized at Roy
S. Anderson Gymnasium before the start of the first home game. Photo
by Teena Lowery
With thirty seconds left Clark passed the ball into the paint to
Knapp and she banked it in to trim the lead to 43-42. The Saints
then dribbled too much time off the clock at their end and Lincoln
just did not foul soon enough. Honestly, the last 9.5 seconds of the
game was ugly. Lincoln struggled to get the ball inbounds and there
were more fouls committed. Holmes would foul out with 1.4 seconds
remaining as the Saints added a free throw to the final score. The
Saints even came up with the rebound at the end and time expired
under their basket.
Lincoln loses a heartbreaker on Neil Alexander Court by a final
score of 44-42.
Missed free throws always come back to haunt you and in this case
Lincoln was 7-for-15 from the free throw line.
The Saints were actually worse, shooting 4-for-11 from the free
throw line.
Makinley Knapp led Lincoln with 12 points and Mia Clark added 11
points.
The Saints 5’9 freshman, Karissa Cook, led all scorers with 17
points.
JV won 48-41
In the JV game the Lady Railers staged a remarkable comeback in the
fourth quarter and ended up winning by a final score of 48-41.
The JV team trailed 9-6 after the first quarter and they were behind
25-16 at the half.
As the third quarter came to a close, the JV team was still down
35-29 to the Saints.
Early in the fourth quarter, Lincoln trailed 33-35. What happened
next had everyone in the red, green and black cheering. The Lady
Railers went on a 13-0 run over the Saints, claiming a 46-35 lead.
Eliahlyn Hinton led the attack with seven points. Hinton’s bucket in
the lane on the bounce pass from Maci Eskra was a highlight and she
finished the play by sinking the ‘and one’ at the free throw line.
Another crowd pleaser during the run was the bank shot by Eskra,
good for a three from the top of the key. Grey Gilbert also tossed
in five points in the quarter. Emma Hutchison scored a bucket here,
too and it was Elizabeth Chen completing the scoring at the free
throw for Lincoln. Chen sank two shots with 17.8 seconds remaining
in the game and this sealed the 48-41 win for the JV team.
Grey Gilbert led the JV team with 13 points and Elizabeth Chen was
hot on her heels with 12 points.
Lincoln’s next game will now be a regular season contest with Morton
on November 29, 2024. The JV team will play at 3:30 p.m. and the
Varsity will play at 5:00 p.m.
The Morton Tournament has been cancelled.
Note: Not to add insult to injury but the last Lady Railer regular
season loss was back on February 10, 2022. That was a 63-52 loss to
Mahomet-Seymour with Kloe Froebe out with a hamstring injury. With
the start of the 2022-23 season the ladies started an incredible run
of victories at home.
Varsity scoring
Lincoln 42
Knapp 12
Clark 11
Holmes 8
McCloud 6
Schneider 4
Adams 1
Bloomington Central Catholic 44
Cook 17
Uhren 10
Stolfa 7
Shanks 6
Emm 2
Hurry 2
JV scoring
Lincoln 48
Gilbert 13
Chen 12
Hutchison 9
Eskra 7
Hinton 7
Bloomington Central Catholic 41
Baker 12
Kelley 8
Koch 6
Braucht 5
Bellas 4
Durako 4
McLaughlin 2
Members of the 2024 State Championship team
Kloe Froebe
Becca Heitzig
Jenna Bowman
Tori Geriets
Taryn Stoltzenburg
Piper Whiteman
Mia Clark
Makinley Knapp
Lily Holmes
Grace Schneider
Ceana Adams
Mesa McCloud
Grey Gilbert
Emma Hutchison
Jocelyn Perkins
Coaches
Taylor Rohrer
Cory Farmer
Grace Bossingham
Student Assistants
Ryan Fruge
Myah Bowman
Destinee Harper
Tamari Pressoir
[Tenna Lowery] |
