WLB Lady Wolverines win 2018 seventh grade Class 1A State Tournament Championship

[December 07, 2018]  These Lady Wolverines of West Lincoln-Broadwell are a special group of athletes and they are coached by one of the best basketball coaches in the state. (As indicated recently by the selection of Kari Froebe to serve as the head coach of the Central squad in the upcoming All-State Junior High Classic). Froebe, in her tenth year coaching the Lady Wolverines, has currently guided her teams to five state championships, a runner-up finish and one third place finish. This year she coached her daughter, Kloe, to the third seventh grade state championship in a row and saw her own daughter and the team re-write the IESA record books.

Following the most recent state championship on Thursday night at Central A & M in Assumption, amongst the crowd of fans who mobbed the gymnasium floor, Froebe was beaming with pride and didn’t even know yet of all of the records broken. But she was enjoying the moment and the hugs from the little girls who approached her. With a big smile and some small talk about immediate plans following the win (Which favorite pizza joint do you head for or as Froebe exclaimed, “We’re going to Disney World! Isn’t that what your supposed to say?!”) Froebe then jumped back into game face and talked about this 2018 group of Lady Wolverines that just knocked off the previously undefeated Ottawa Wallace Warriors 52-20 in the state championship game.

“I just want to say how special this one really is,” said Froebe. “These girls have worked hard since they were in kindergarten and to go out in their last seventh grade game as a three-peat state champion is pretty spectacular in itself. But it’s a testament to their hard work and dedication that they put into this program throughout the entire year. They’re great role models for the younger girls and as you look around here in the crowd tonight you’ll see a lot of future Lady Wolverines dressed and looking up to these girls and that’s what it’s all about and what better role models than to have, you know, this team. We’ve got some young girls in fifth grade that are showing tremendous progress that came into this game. Mia Clark knocked down a shot. As a fifth grader to knock that down in a state championship game shows poise. I thought we came out like veterans.”

Fans gather around the players as the net is cut down in the background.

WLB allowed the Warriors to score 13 points in the first half, and that’s a bit more offense allowed by the Lady Wolverines than normal. Froebe had made note of that and her team turned things around in the second half, holding the Warriors to just seven points and in particular, just one point in the fourth quarter.

“I thought our defense struggled a little bit the first quarter, maybe a little bit the first half, but after halftime I thought they picked it up,” said Froebe. “We were getting beat on the boards and that goes to Ottawa Wallace. They were out hustling us. We just needed to do the little things, boxing out and setting good screens, to get the job done. I thought the girls responded after halftime and came out looking like the way that we know how to play.”

Crowned seventh Grade Class 1A State Tournament Champions three years in a row, these girls are undefeated in three years as well.

“What I love about these girls is they play every game like they lost the game before and have something to prove,” said Froebe. “They play with confidence but they come out trying to prove every game.”

Here is what the Lady Wolverines proved versus Ottawa Wallace, whose own scorekeeper admitted, “This is the best team we’ve seen all season.”

The WLB players grab that championship trophy.

Just after the tip-off Thursday night, WLB was off and running, forcing turnovers and stealing the ball left and right. Layups by Kloe Froebe and Jenna Bowman allowed WLB a 6-0 lead. The points off the press dominated the quarter and the result was a 16-6 Lady Wolverine lead at the end of the first quarter. The six-minute quarters moved so fast, especially watching this WLB team. Bowman was 4-for-4 from the free throw in the second quarter and Froebe hit three more layups and a free throw to lead WLB offensively. The WLB lead at the half was 28-13 and there was really no worry of losing this one if you were in the blue-green crowd.

The steals and layups continued to dominate the third quarter. When Froebe wasn’t able to finish it off the glass, she would find Becca Heitzig for the two-point finish. Heitzig’s basket at the 2:19 mark gave the Lady Wolverines a comfortable 36-15 lead. While giving up all these points to Ottawa Wallace may have been a surprise, the Warriors had their own scoring machine in a young lady who played the game like a “bull in a china shop” ~ head down and full speed ahead. Kendall Lowery, who finished with 11 points for Ottawa Wallace, is a gritty ballplayer with determination on the court. She took a drive coast to coast for the Warriors and even with her team down 38-17, she never let up in her will to win. On this particular night, the Lady Wolverines were without a doubt more stacked and as Froebe hit the final field goal of the third quarter, it was WLB 42 and Ottawa Wallace 19.

The final six minutes would be more fun for the Lady Wolverines. With the her first free throw made of the fourth quarter, Froebe broke her own record of total points scored by an individual in a state tournament. And she wasn’t done scoring in the game yet.

Froebe would miss the second free throw attempt but grab her own rebound that bounced long. Froebe would then spot Mia Clark open around the arc and with 4:12 on the clock, the fifth grader took a couple steps closer and put one up for nothing but net. WLB’s lead was 47-20.

Froebe finally hit a three around the 3:25 mark in the fourth quarter, after being pretty cold from beyond the arc earlier in the game. Her record-setting 36th point of the game would come on a bank shot in the lane after that. WLB’s lead was 52-20 at that point. Froebe took a seat on the bench with 12 steals and 7 rebounds to her credit also.

The WLB subs entered the game at the 1:39 mark and with the final seconds ticking fast, that score remained as the buzzer sounded and the benches cleared with lots of Lady Wolverines jumping up and down.

Quickly back to Kloe Froebe, she set the tournament scoring record last year at 82 points and broke it Thursday night, as she finished the tournament with 88 points. Oh, and that record of most points scored by an individual in a state championship game, that went by the wayside, too. Froebe broke her own record of 27 points scored last year. In fact, she shattered it by scoring 36 points versus Ottawa Wallace on Thursday night.

As a team, WLB set the record for Most Games Played, Most Games Won and Most Tournaments Won.

In fact many, many records were broken in the 2018 State Tournament by WLB and Kloe Froebe.

Congratulations, Lady Wolverines!

Final scoring in the championship game
WLB 52	Ottawa Wallace 20
Froebe 36 Bowman 8 Geriets 3 Heitzig 2 Clark 2 Whiteman 1	Lowery 11 Burgwald 6 Stoudt 2 Craig 1

[by Teena Lowery]