Lincoln College hosts the second Annual All-State Junior High Classic for Girls

[December 24, 2019]  The best of the best in Illinois girls junior high basketball ascended on Lincoln again this weekend to participate in the 2019 All-State Junior High Classic.

 Approximately 150 girls from across the state spent the weekend in Lincoln. On Saturday the girls spent the day practicing in gyms all around town. The players then participated in skills competitions Saturday night at the Lincoln Center. On Sunday the girls played between four and five games on the campus of Lincoln College.

 For the second year in a row the Central Team won the championship game on Sunday night. The Central Team, coached by West Lincoln Broadwell’s Kari Froebe defeated the North Team, coached by Pancho Moore of Champaign Central High School by a final of 41-31.

Froebe, an 11-year veteran coach of the Lady Wolverines, not only enjoyed the girls on this year’s team, but also the opportunity to coach alongside a fellow 11-year coaching veteran and friend from Winchester, Jason Likes. The two share a lot of similarities, for example Likes’ teams swept the 2A state championships this year, just like West Lincoln Broadwell swept the 1A titles.

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“I really enjoy Jason coming over with the Winchester girls,” said Froebe. “I love the opportunity for the girls to actually get to meet the other teams and players that they’ve competed against for many years and actually get to know them on a personal level instead of a competitive level. I really enjoy what this does for Lincoln as well. It brings in a lot of athletes and a lot of people to our community, which is an excellent thing.”

“It was a lot of fun to be a part of this,” agreed Likes. “There was a competitive side and a learning the game of basketball aspect. The girls also got to hang out and get to know each other a little bit. They know each other from some summer games over the past few years but this was a different level. It was nice as a coach to get to know these girls. It was a lot of fun.”

The two coaches not only share a friendship over the last decade, but a little friendly competition on the side. A smiling Froebe offered up, “We were tied neck-and-neck for state championships.” Froebe has jumped in front for now but Likes has three girls of his own up and coming on the courts. His oldest daughter, Ashlyn, is a seventh grader who played in the junior high classic this weekend but with two more younger daughters coming up he just might get the advantage over Froebe. Only time will tell. Both coaches are undoubtedly building legacies at their respective schools.

As coach of the second place finishing North Team, Pancho Moore was impressed with the talent he saw in Lincoln. Aside from being a high school basketball coach, Moore also coaches Jefferson Middle School in Champaign. He was a last minute fill-in to coach this weekend and he saw his team achieve a great deal of success, despite falling short in the championship.

“They were an awesome team,” Moore said of his athletes on the North Team. “They came from the Bolingbrook area and it was my first time meeting a lot of them. Yesterday (Saturday) at practice I asked them if they wanted to be here just to compete and we would just have fun or if they wanted to win. They said they wanted to win, so we had a good hard practice yesterday. They bought in and they believed in it the whole way and we just fell short. They played five games today (Sunday). That’s a lot since 7 a.m. We’ve been here for twelve hours but they fought hard every single minute. It came down to just slightly fresher legs and one heckuva ballplayer over there on that Lincoln side with number 5. I don’t even know her name. (Insert the name Kloe Froebe here.)

“Yes, there you go, Kloe Froebe,” said Moore. "She’s just a heckuva ballplayer and there was nothing we could do to keep her away from the ball. But my girls fought hard and I think they are happy with what they did and I look forward to working with them again sometime in the near future.”

Kirk Whiteman, the lead faculty for Sports Management at Lincoln College, was once again happy with the overwhelming success of the weekend.

“It was a wonderful weekend,” said Whiteman. “We had a great time and it’s a fitting in for a lot of these girls who play junior high and a lot of the top ones in the IESA.

"It was a great weekend and I’m glad that we are able to participate with it here in the city of Lincoln.

"Thanks again to the Logan County Tourism Bureau. They reached out to us trying to get some more things going here in Logan County. They worked with us to get this off the ground that first year (2018), so we’re really grateful for that. We’ve had a lot of great feedback.

"At the end of the day it’s a hectic time of year for everybody but we were still full with 150 girls participating. We had them stand up on Saturday night and get recognized and about fifty percent of them participated in the state tournament this year. People saw some really great games this weekend and it was a lot of fun.”

Congratulations to all the athletes who participated in the All-State Junior High Classic.

Local athletes participating included:

From WLB:

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Kloe Froebe
Tori Geriets
Jenna Bowman
Becca Heitzig
Piper Whiteman
Alison Turner

From Olympia:

Hannah Cleveland
Katherine Springer

From Mount Pulaski:

Grace Davis
Mackenzi Chandler

Jamie Anderson of Mount Pulaski Grade School also coached the South Central team.

Skills competition winners

Dribble-Pass-Shoot:

Champion ~ Becca Heitzig, West Lincoln Broadwell

2nd place ~ Grace Nelson, Altamont

3rd place ~ Breyah Austin, Decatur Hope

4th place ~ Kamryn Heider, East Peoria Central

3-Point:

Champion ~ Rebecca Bellows, Pleasant Plains

2nd place ~ Abbi Hatton, Sigel St. Michael

3rd place ~ Olivia Kappes, Brimfield

4th place ~ Jayce Privia, A-C Central

Hot Shot:

Champion ~ Grace Nelson, Altamont

2nd place ~ Jayce Privia, A-C Central

3rd place ~ Annabelle Fortin, Illini Bluffs

4th place ~ Kenzie Hales, Hume Shiloh

Ball Toss Out:

Champion ~ Bryleigh Fox, Winchester

2nd Place ~ Brittney Veugeler, Mokena

3rd place ~ Persais Williams, Humphrey (Bolingbrook)

4th Place ~ Roxy White, James Hart (Homewood)

Central

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Kloe Froebe
Tori Geriets
Alison Turner
Jersey Brown
Bryleigh Fox
Jenna Bowman
Becca Heitzig
Piper Whiteman
Trystan White
Ashlyn Likes 
Coaches Kari Froebe and Jason Likes

North

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Madison Schroeder
Ashley Renwick
Kylee Norkus
Kelley Lewis
Christina Keoborakot
Aniela Machalski
Avery Houlihan
Maziah Shelton
Persais Williams
Aramie Lyte
Yahaira Bueno
Coach Pancho Moore

[Teena Lowery]