Froebe sets scoring record, secures Lincoln's spot for 3A title
NORMAL — It’s hard to imagine what’s in store for the encore.
Kloe Froebe scored an Illinois girls state basketball tournament record 45 points to lead Lincoln past Deerfield 76-56 in the Class 3A semifinals at CEFCU Arena on Friday.
The undefeated Railsplitters (36-0) will play LaGrange Park Nazareth (34-1) for the 3A state championship on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Nazareth beat Peoria High 48-35 in the first semifinal.
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Froebe broke the previous Illinois High School Association state tournament single-game scoring record of 41 points, set by East St. Louis Lincoln’s Tina Hutchinson in 1983. It also beats the Class 3A state tournament record of 30 points, set by Nazareth’s Annie Stritzel in the 2019 3A third-place game over Sacred Heart-Griffin.
Froebe said she thought the bigger court of Illinois State University might limit her potential.
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“It’s going to be harder to push the ball, which is something I would thrive on,” Froebe said. “Our press, we had to scoot back so I didn’t know how many fast breaks I would get — which is something I thrive on. Today to come out and score 76 points (as a team) was amazing.”
Lincoln outscored Deerfield 40-14 in the middle quarters despite the Warriors (29-6) taking a 20-18 lead on a 5-0 run to start the second quarter.
“I think my girls played an incredible game today,” Lincoln coach Taylor Rohrer said. “We prepared really hard for (Deerfield). We knew we were going to do and these kids came into the gym the last three days prepared and I think you can see that on the floor.”
Froebe scored her 45 points on 12 of 18 shooting. She was 19-for-23 at the free-throw line and pulled down a game-high 15 points.
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Deerfield coach Nicole Keith was frustrated by her team’s inability to stop Froebe.
“She’s good. She got her open looks, she hit shots,” Keith said. “It’s tough. We feel like we’re such a good team and they have one girl. And it’s not to take away from the rest of the girls on their team but (Froebe) scored almost 50 points. That’s incredible.
Nikki Kerstein and Aubrey Galvan each had 16 to lead Deerfield. Lexi Kerstein added 12.
“Good for her but that’s one girl beating a team when as a coach you feel like you have a stronger team in my heart. If we hit some shots, it’s a different game.”
Lincoln's Becca Heitzig scored nine points for the Railers, Tori Geriets had eight and Taryn Stoltzenburg finished with seven.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Lincoln's Kloe Froebe scores state-tournament record 45 in semifinal win
