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Two top girls basketball teams in the state are going to duke it out – again – in Apollo Conference action.

Mattoon, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A by MaxPreps and No. 10-ranked in the AP Poll, travels to Lincoln, who is ranked No. 6 by MaxPreps and AP. 

Two future Division I players will be pitted against each other in what feels like the Apollo Conference Championship. And, it’s on a Friday? How does it get better than this?

Here is the preview of tonight’s game. 

Team Records: Mattoon (18-1, 7-0) @ Lincoln (15-2, 4-1)

Where: Lincoln High School

Tickets: Tickets can be purchased at Lincoln High School

School Size: Mattoon (930), Lincoln (810)

JV Tip-Off: 6:00 p.m.

Varsity Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m.

Opponent’s History: Taylor Roher is currently in her 10th season as the head coach. She has a 117-149 record before the season began. In 2015-2016, she led the team to a 22-9 overall record, including an IHSA Sectional Championship and Elite 8 appearance. That season has been Lincoln’s only IHSA Regional Championship team since 2006. Last year, Lincoln finished 9-9 overall. 

Lincoln’s Past Results: Lincoln and Mattoon have played each other three times this season. Lincoln left the Pana Thanksgiving Tournament as champions with a 4-1 record. Mattoon defeated Lincoln 54-45 in an early round, but the Railsplitters beat Mattoon 56-48 in the championship. Mattoon responded by winning their first Apollo Conference matchup, 61-31. Since then, Lincoln is riding a nine-game winning streak, which includes a 46-38 win over Peoria High School, which was once ranked No. 1 overall in Class 3A in the AP Poll. 

Lincoln’s Top Players: Leading the way is 5-foot-9 sophomore point guard Kloe Froebe, a Class 3A First-Team All-State selection as a freshman. Froebe stuffed the stat sheet last season, averaging 26.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.4 steals and 4.0 assists. She already has offers from Harvard, Illinois, Illinois State, Ohio, Purdue, and Saint Louis. Also on the team is sophomore Becca Heitzig, who won the Apollo Conference title in cross country. 

“They are very talented players,” said head coach Amanda Aydt. “We need to play good solid defense, rebound, run our offense and make shots.”

Lincoln’s Stats:  Froebe scored 28 points in the championship game against Mattoon. As a team, Lincoln is averaging 57.7 points per game and allowing 31.8 points. In their last matchup, Froebe made 8 of 17 field goals for 17 points, while the rest of her team combined to make only one of 14 field goals.

Mattoon’s Past Results: Mattoon is riding a 14-game winning streak. The team is coming off a 45-30 Apollo Conference win on the road at Mahomet-Seymour in which Mallory Ramage led the team with 12 points, while Emily Maple added 11 points off the bench. Paige Farmer contributed 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers. 

Mattoon’s Stats: Senior guard Mallory Ramage averages 22.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.26 steals per game. Lily Ghere averages 10.1 points, guard/forward Faith Niebrugge leads the team in assists per game at 4.16 and is second behind forward Chloe Pruitt’s 4.95 rebounds per game. Pruitt also averages 7.7 points. Mattoon is averaging 62.1 points on 49.3% shooting while getting about 14 steals per game in allowing 33.9 points on average. 

What Lincoln Said: Coach unavailable to comment.

What Mattoon Said: “Lincoln is a solid basketball team,” said Aydt. “I am so blessed to be able to coach this team.  These ladies are so much fun to be around. They have great attitudes and do whatever is best for the team. Everyone does the little things, diving on the floor after a loose ball, setting a good screen to get a teammate open, making the extra pass, jumping to the ball, and helping on defense. They are team players who always put the team first.”