Good time had by all: WLB Lady Wolverines downs DARE "All-Stars" 41-38

[March 05, 2018] 

Kids and adults had a blast Sunday night as the West Lincoln-Broadwell Lady Wolverines, who swept the Class 7-1A and 8-1A State IESA Basketball Tournaments this past season, took on local police and radio and TV sports personalities in a basketball game supporting the Lincoln DARE program.

The evening featured fun on the court as well as many fundraising activities off the court.

Announcer Jim Ash set the tone early for the game when he said of the WLB state champions, “They sought out a world-class opponent. Unfortunately that team was unavailable. So instead they decided to play the crew from the Cheap Seats.” The player introductions followed and each one was followed with laughter. Joe Ryan served as the self-appointed coach/player. Since the Cheap Seats crew is just a four-man crew, the guys recruited the help of WAND-TV sportscaster Gordon Voit and several members of the Lincoln Police Department. Christy Fruge, a DARE officer for 15 years and the organizer of the event, served as the only female member of the DARE team.

Aaron Hinton sang the National Anthem prior to tip-off and his voice was amazing.

As the WLB ladies took the court versus some 6’5 members of the Lincoln Police Department in the lineup, they didn’t back down. Chad Kerns may have gotten the first bucket of the game less than ten seconds in, but the DARE team needed a timeout already. They probably just needed to catch a quick breather and figure out their next move. It was going to be a long night for them.

The first half saw a variety of things happen. The DARE team was getting called for illegal substitutions and not knowing why. Also from time to time it looked like there was a running clock that may have favored the guys who most likely have socks older than the opposing team. This made things even.

Then the Lady Wolverines broke out a distraction. Donuts. That will side-track a cop any day of the week. Even Loyd Kirby could be spotted eating a donut while trying to guard his WLB opponent.

From the sidelines Joe Ryan was shouting out plays, like “Purple!” Christy Fruge could be heard trotting by the bench and saying, “What does that even mean?”

The 10-minute quarters really did fly by and at the half WLB was up 22-17.

It’s worth mentioning that the DARE team struggled a bit in the first half to sink a shot. They were just inconsistent in the use of the backboard is all. Sometimes the ball completely missed the square or the glass altogether. At other times, the ball ricocheted so hard off the backboard no one could grab it as it flew through the air like a backfired missile.

Halftime entertainment featured a slew of participants from the crowd taking their turn at a half-court shot for $1.00. Those that missed are too numerous to mention but here’s who did sink a half-courter and in the proper order:

Jackson Geriets
Elly Martinez
Brian Clements
Kloe Froebe
Trey Schilling (2)
Cory Farmer
Asia Sales
Tori Schilling
Brandon Heitzig
Jazmyn Robbins

All of the above got coupons for a free Stuffed Aria pizza.

The second half began with Kloe Froebe getting called for a charge. The sixth grader sent Gordon Voit tumbling to the ground. She is a beast.

The DARE team made the first shot again and another timeout was called. Those players just use up so much energy getting two points. And those guys couldn’t catch a break. By the time they walked over to the bench to hear Coach Ryan’s strategy, the referee was blowing the whistle in their ears telling them to break it up. Who knew 30 seconds could go so quick?

With WLB up 26-19 Kloe Froebe went down with an “injury” and had to be helped off the court.

She was substituted at the free throw line by her brother, Kruz, who is a kindergartener. He didn’t sink the shots but he did earn a huge round of applause. Although the referee tried to move Kruz closer to the basket the youngest Froebe just grinned and backed up to the line again.

The DARE team made quite the third quarter comeback and as Jake Johnston got a shot to fall just before the buzzer, the game was tied 28-28.

Kloe Froebe’s three to start the final quarter gave WLB a 31-28 lead.

DARE stole the lead back but then it was Froebe again reclaiming the lead. The DARE team got down to business in the final minutes, realizing what was at stake.

Even Gordon Voit was calling out plays from the bench. “Delta!” Voit kept saying. “Yeah that’s it,” said Voit, as the shot fell short but he was proud that the play had worked and kept nodding to teammate Loyd Kirby on the bench.

The fourth quarter was all about the ladies. A basket by Tori Schilling extended the lead to 35-32. The lone girl on DARE’s team, Christy Fruge, scored back to back buckets that would ignite the DARE team and give them a 36-35 lead with 4:20 left to play. Seconds later Becca Heitzig hit a three from downtown and this game was getting intense.

WLB was up 38-36 and still showing no signs of slowing down. The blue and green was just getting wound up.

Jake Johnston was hot in his own flashy way and he tied the game 38-38 with 2:00 minutes remaining.

WLB pulled a ringer off the bench in manager Mia Clark. Clark came in and hit a free throw to give WLB a lead to keep, 39-38 the score.

With 1:40 remaining in the game, it was a free for all. Everyone was on the court. Oh, except one player who got ejected. Jim Rehman plowed over a junior high girl in the lane and was called for the flagrant foul. Tori Schilling stepped to the free throw line and put WLB on top 40-38.

Schilling drew another foul seconds later and it would be her once again at the line. She sank another one and as time ran down on the DARE team, they failed to get a good shot off over the 4’0 opponents running circles around them.

The final score was 41-38 with everyone flashing smiles after the game. The final stats in this game show 47 players on the court (maybe a slight exaggeration) and no evidence of any proper stat keeping whatsoever. All evidence of this game disappeared along with the donut box.

The good news from the west side of town is, no paramedics were called to the scene and the two teams shook hands and shared hugs after the game; all in good fun for a great cause.

Those participating on the DARE team were:

Coach: Joe Ryan

Players:

Scott Kirby
Jake Johnston
Loyd Kirby
Gordon Voit
Paul Adams
Matt Vlahovich
Brian Clements
Jake Kitner
Jim Rehman
Shawn Pettit
Christy Fruge

On Monday, DARE Officer Christy Fruge said, "The DARE basketball game was a huge success! All of the state champion West Lincoln Broadwell girls had a great time playing local celebrities. The event raised around $1,200 for the DARE program.

It was great to see these girls interact so well with Lincoln police officers. One of the main goals of the DARE program is to better relationships in our community. We for sure did that last night with those very talented girls! Thanks to everyone who helped out."

[Teena Lowery]