Froebe, red-hot Lincoln bounces Highland in Class 3A Taylorville Super-Sectional
The Highland girls basketball team had high hopes of punching their ticket to the IHSA Class 3A state tournament on Monday night in Taylorville.
However, Lincoln standout junior guard Kloe Froebe and the undefeated Lady Railers ultimately robbed HHS of that chance.
Froebe was the primary culprit as she exploded for 40 points and the Lady Railers parlayed a six-point first-quarter lead into a 27-point halftime advantage en route to a 61-39 super-sectional victory at Taylorville High School.
Lincoln (35-0) advances to play Deerfield in the state semifinals at 11:15 a.m. Friday, March 3, at Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State University.
Highland — making its second super-sectional appearance in three seasons — could not contain Froebe, who slashed and dashed her way to 28 points in the first half.
“She’s the real deal and she scored over 2,000 points as a junior, so we knew she would put the ball in the hole,” Highland coach Clint Hamilton said. “She found a lot of ways to score tonight and it’s tough to guard someone when they can score at all three levels.”
Leading just 15-9 heading onto the second quarter, the Lady Railers — behind potent shot-making from Froebe and junior shooting guard Jenna Bowman — broke loose for 24 second-quarter points and held a 39-12 halftime edge.
A big factor in the Lady Railers getting control in the first half was their suffocating defense that kept Highland senior leading scorer Grace Wilke scoreless until early in the fourth quarter.
“They knew where she was at on the perimeter and they definitely shaded her. A couple of other kids on the team got some decent looks and those just weren’t falling in the first half so that we couldn’t put any pressure back on them,” Hamilton said.
Wilke finished with a season-low three points in her final game as a Lady Bulldog.
Addison Crask knocked down a three-ball and Abby Schultz got a backdoor bucket, cutting the lead to 43-22 early in the third quarter. However, a 9-1 run started by a Bowman bucket and capped by a Froebe triple pushed the Lady Railers’ advantage to 52-23.
“We finally got the lid off the bucket, but then we couldn’t get any defensive stops. And just playing from behind is never good against that caliber of a team,” Hamilton said.
Highland never got closer than 24 the rest of the way.
Sophie Schroeder came off the bench and led the HHS with nine points, while Larissa Taylor scored seven.
Highland enjoys banner campaign
Highland, which won a regional and sectional championship after finishing last year 8-24, ended the season at 26-8.
Hamilton reminded his club that despite losing in the super-sectional, they had put together a very successful 2022-23 campaign.
“I told the girls in the locker room right now it stings, and the girls are frustrated, but you give it a week, and you can reflect back, and you get to think about all the good things you did this year. It’s a pretty successful year, and they’ve got a lot to be proud of coming off a tough year last year and just grinding and finding ways to win. And what a great group of kids,” Hamilton said.
This story was originally published February 27, 2023 at 9:00 PM.