Girls basketball Player of the Year:

QND’s Frericks becomes a sensation in junior season

By BLAKE TOPPMEYER

Herald-Whig Sports Writer

YouTube.com/jordanfrericks didn’t launch before a bit of protest.

“I was kind of against it,” said Jordan Frericks, a junior atQuincy Notre Dame. “I don’t want to be out there.”

Brian Fox, Frericks’ soon-to-be brother-in-law, created the channel and the highlight clips for it. Fox, who also has the website jordanfrericks.com in the works, convinced Frericks the channel would only be seen by women’s college basketball coaches who were interested in checking out Frericks’ game. So she relented.

Looking at the videos now, it’s clear that either there are a lot of college coaches interested in Frericks or they aren’t the only ones interested catching a glimpse of the 6-foot-1 forward. The two videos on Frericks’ Youtube channel, plus another highlight video posted by Illinois Basketball Services, have received slightly more than 1,000 views combined.

“It’s not like I’m famous or anything,” said Frericks, getting embarrassed as she answered questions about her YouTube page.

Maybe not, but Frericks certainly received a lot of attention from opposing defenses this season. That never fazed her. She averaged 16.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.4 steals per game and helped QND compile a 33-1 record and repeat as Class 2A state champions. She has been selected as The Herald-Whig’s 2012 girls basketball Player of the Year.

 

‘A game changer’

QND coach Eric Orne couldn’t come up with one play from this season that best illustrates Frericks’ skill set.

Instead, he referenced a two-play, 20-second span in the second quarter of QND’s super-sectional game against St. Thomas More. Frericks got an offensive rebound on a free-throw attempt and scored a putback basket. Then she helped force a turnover, scored in the post against two defenders and made the ensuing free throw after she was fouled on the play.

A somewhat similar instance occurs during one of Frericks’ highlight videos in a game this season against state-ranked Springfield. Frericks snares a Springfield pass while running the point of QND’s full-court press and converts the steal into a lay-up. Seconds later, she steals Springfield’s inbounds pass.

Frericks’ teammates regularly saw her put on similar displays in practice.

“People think you get used to it, but honestly, every day at practice, she would just make plays where you’re like, ‘Wow, how did she just do that?’” QND senior Shannon Foley said.

The two-play scenarios against St. Thomas More and Springfield demonstrated two of Frericks’ top assets: her length — Frericks’ wingspan measures 6-5 — and her anticipation.

“It always amazed me a few times, like in the super-sectional game, there were times where we were stagnant, and then she would make an incredible play that you just can’t duplicate,” Orne said.

“She was a game changer.”

She was also consistent.

Frericks reached double figures scoring in 27 of the 33 games she played in. She scored at least 14 points in all seven postseason games and averaged 17.4 points per game during that span, highlighted by a 24-point, 11-rebound and six-steal performance against St. Thomas More.

“If we ever needed someone to score, we were looking at her,” Foley said. “We could get her the ball, and she could find herself a shot even if she wasn’t wide open.”

The scoring didn’t get in the way of Frericks’ unselfishness, as she also ranked second on the team at 3.5 assists per games.

“She just really understood the game,” Foley said. “She could see the pass before it was even there. She would hit a girl cutting almost before she even made the cut.”

 

Lock-down defender

Frericks’ biggest impact, however, was probably her work shutting down opponents’ top low-post threats.

QND welcomed Edwardsville, which was nationally ranked by ESPN and went on to finish second in Class 4A, into The Pit for a Feb. 4 showdown. Frericks had the assignment of defending Edwardsville’s 6-2 senior Emmonnie Henderson, a second-team all-state selection in Class 4A by the Associated Press.

Henderson made 1 of 11 field-goal attempts, scored a season-low four points, had six rebounds and fouled out midway through the fourth quarter. QND won 48-44.

“It wasn’t just me that game. It was our entire team,” Frericks said. “I would be the one guarding her, but she wouldn’t be able to get the ball because we also had help-side defense and things like that.”

Foley wasn’t as quick to downplay Frericks’ role in shutting down the Edwardsville standout.

“That proved a lot about what kind of player she is,” Foley said. “She can go up against girls who are even bigger than her. She doesn’t have to deal with that often, but when she does she stops them and shuts them down.

“She plays great defense against girls who are amazing players themselves. And not only can she stop them, but she can score against them and get her points too.”

Frericks demonstrated that against Edwardsville. She had 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven steals, an effort that increased the attention she was receiving from college coaches.

Frericks ranks the Edwardsville win in front of a standing-room-only crowd as one of her top memories from this season.

“We had the whole Pit (packed),” Frericks said. “Everybody was there, all of our fans. Beating a nationally ranked team on our home floor was a great feeling.”

Since that game, Frericks has received Division I scholarship offers from the University of Missouri, DePaul and Wisconsin-Green Bay. The latter two schools made the round of 32 in this year’s NCAA women’s tournament.

“It’s obvious that throughout the colleges that are coming after her to see her play, they see the same things that I see,” Orne said.

Frericks, for her part, downplays the amount of attention she’s receiving from college coaches.

Sure, she wants to ultimately land with a quality program. But for now, she’s not too worried about things like how many people are viewing her Youtube highlights.

“I needed to focus on what I was doing with my team right now,” Frericks said. “I wasn’t ignoring all the college coaches, but they understood too that I needed to focus on the task at hand.”

Frericks handled every task thrown her way this season.

“There were just special plays that no other player could make besides her,” Orne said.

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Frericks places 6th in Ms. Basketball voting

By THE HERALD-WHIG STAFF

Quincy Notre Dame junior Jordan Frericks placed sixth in the voting for Illinois Ms. Basketball.

The Chicago Tribune revealed last Saturday that Bolingbrook’s Morgan Tuck won the award, which given in conjunction by the Tribune and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association. However, only the top three vote-getters were released at that time.

The Tribune released a full list of vote-getters Thursday. Frericks, a 6-foot-1 forward, ranked behind Tuck, Niles West’s Jewell Loyd, Mount Carmel’s Tyra Buss, Whitney Young’s Janee Thompson and Springfield’s Zahna Medley.

Frericks earned 41 points, receiving five first-place votes, three second-place votes and seven third-place votes. Coaches and representatives from the media vote for the award.

Tuck, a Connecticut signee who averaged 27.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, won with 287 points. Frericks averaged 16.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game for QND, which went 33-1 and repeated as the Class 2A state champions. Frericks also was one of 40 players who received special mention all-state from the Tribune.

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POWERADE FAB 50 Rankings: Final

ESPN High School Team Rankings 2011 Season

2011-2012 POWERADE FAB 50 Girls’ Basketball Rankings: Final
1 (1)	Saint Marys Phoenix, AZ	30-0	Season ended with a state championship for the Nike Tournament of Champions champions.
2 (2)	McEachern Powder Springs, GA	33-0	Season ended with a state championship.
3 (3)	Whitney Young Chicago, IL	34-0	Season ended with a state championship.
4 (4)	Bolingbrook Bolingbrook, IL	26-2	Season ended with a quadruple-overtime loss to No. 3 Whitney Young.
5 (5)	Riverdale Murfreesboro, TN	34-3	Season ended with a state championship.
6 (6)	Riverdale Baptist Upper Marlboro, MD	35-2	The NACA national champs will be the top seed in the NHSI this weekend.
7 (7)	Duncanville Duncanville, TX	40-1	Season ended with a state championship.
8 (8)	Mater Dei Santa Ana, CA	34-3	Jordan Adams had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Nirra Fields had 24 points as the Monarchs beat Berkeley (Calif.) 57-40 to win the CIF Division I state championship for the third straight year.
9 (9)	La Jolla Country Day School La Jolla, CA	32-1	Kelsey Plum had 32 points, and Maya Hood had 19 points and 13 rebounds as the Torreys beat Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) 72-41 in the CIF Division IV state championship game.
10 (12)	Cicero-North Syracuse Cicero, NY	23-3	Breanna Stewart set records for points (64) and rebounds (38) in the New York State Federation Tournament of Champions as the Northstars rolled 80-55 over Nazareth (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in the semifinal and 60-28 over Murry Bergtraum (New York, N.Y.) in the championship game.
11 (10)	Hoover Birmingham, AL	31-3	Season ended with a state championship.
12 (11)	Twinsburg Twinsburg, OH	25-3	Season ended with a state championship.
13 (13)	Science Hill Johnson City, TN	38-1	Season ended with a loss to Riverdale in the state championship game.
14 (14)	Bishop O’Dowd Oakland, CA	30-3	Kendall Waters had 14 points and 12 rebounds as the Dragons routed Laguna Hills (Calif.) 62-24 in the CIF Division III state championship.
15 (15)	Clarksville Clarksville, TN	37-1	Season ended with a loss to Science Hill in the state semifinals.
16 (17)	MacArthur Irving, TX	35-3	Season ended with a loss to Duncanville.
17 (18)	DuPont Manual Louisville, KY	37-2	Season ended with a state championship.
18 (19)	Wesleyan School Norcross, GA	28-4	Season ended with a state championship.
19 (20)	Windward Los Angeles, CA	29-5	Season ended with a loss to Serra (Gardena, Calif.) in the CIF Division IV regional semifinal.
20 (16)	Nazareth Brooklyn, NY	18-4	Lost to Cicero-North Syracuse in the semifinals of the New York State Federation Tournament of Champions last weekend.
21 (21)	L. B. Polytechnic Long Beach, CA	31-4	Season ended with a loss to Mater Dei in the CIF Division I state semifinals.
22 (22)	Dr. Phillips Orlando, FL	29-3	Will defend NHSI title this weekend after claiming a state championship.
23 (24)	Norcross Norcross, GA	26-6	Season ended with a loss to No. 2 McEachern in state semifinals.
24 (25)	M. X. Shabazz Newark, NJ	30-2	Season ended with a loss to Gill St. Bernard in the semifinals of the New Jersey Tournament of Champions.
25 (23)	Good Counsel Olney, MD	30-5	Lost to H.D. Woodson in the Washington, D.C., city title game.
26 (26)	South Medford Medford, OR	30-0	Season ended with a state championship.
27 (27)	Brea Olinda Brea, CA	26-7	Season ended with a loss to Long Beach Poly in the quarterfinals of the CIF Division I state tournament.
28 (28)	Edgewater Orlando, FL	28-4	Will play in the NHSI this weekend after claiming the FHSAA 6A state championship.
29 (29)	Seward Seward, NE	26-0	Season ended with a state championship.
30 (30)	Hopkins Minnetonka, MN	30-1	Season ended with a state championship.
31 (31)	Marion County Lebanon, KY	34-5	Season ended with a loss to DuPont Manual in the state championship game.
32 (32)	Bob Jones Madison, AL	36-3	Season ended a loss to No. 8 Hoover in the state championship game.
33 (33)	Fairmont Kettering, OH	24-4	Season ended with a loss to Twinsburg in the OHSAA Division I state championship game.
34 (34)	St. Mary’s Stockton, CA	32-4	Season ended with a loss to Archbishop Mitty in the semifinals of the CIF Division II regional tournament.
35 (35)	Goodrich Goodrich, MI	28-0	Season ended with a state championship.
36 (36)	Quincy Notre Dame Quincy, IL	34-1	Season ended with a state championship.
37 (37)	Saint Johns College Washington, DC	26-8	Season ended with a championship in the Bishop Walsh Invitational.
38 (38)	Archbishop Carroll Radnor, PA	29-2	Junior Sarah Curran had 16 points and seven rebounds as the Patriots beat Oakland Catholic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 56-37 in the PIAA AAAA state championship game last weekend.
39 (39)	Edmond Santa Fe Edmond, OK	28-0	Season ended with a state championship.
40 (40)	Wichita Heights Wichita, KS	25-0	Season ended with a state championship.
41 (41)	Rock Bridge Columbia, MO	26-3	Season ended with a state championship.
42 (49)	Manasquan Manasquan, NJ	32-2	Katelynn Flaherty had 27 points and Michaela Mabrey had 26 as Manasquan beat Gill St. Bernard 67-55 to win the New Jersey Tournament of Champions.
43 (42)	Junipero Serra Gardena, CA	30-4	Season ended with a loss to La Jolla Country Day in the CIF Division IV semifinals.
44 (43)	Lincoln Dallas, TX	29-1	Season ended with a loss in the regional quarterfinals.
45 (44)	Spring Valley Columbia, SC	21-5	Season ended with a loss in the second round of the state playoffs.
46 (45)	Plano West Plano, TX	34-3	Season ended with a loss to MacArthur in the regional quarterfinals.
47 (46)	Hamilton Southeastern Fishers, IN	20-1	Season ended with an opening-round loss in the state playoffs.
48 (47)	Cabot Cabot, AR	25-5	Season ended with a state championship.
49 (NR)	Howard D. Woodson Washington, DC	26-5	The Warriors forced 27 turnovers and got a season-high 19 points from sophomore Breonn Hughey as they beat No. 25 Good Counsel 64-54 in the city title game.
50 (48)	Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL	34-2	Season ended with a loss to No. 3 Whitney Young in the state championship game.

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QND Girls hand Edwardsville first loss

February 5, 2012

By Blake Toppmeyer Herald-Whig Sports Writer

When Kassidy Gengenbacher heard Edwardsville’s Emmonnie Henderson scored only four points Saturday night, she was stunned. “She had four points? Wow,” Gengenbacher said.

Upon second thought, however, when Gengenbacher considered Jordan Frericks’ defensive skills, it was less shocking. “We always know if there’s a good player, we can put Jordan on her and count on her to shut her down,” said Gengenbacher, who along with Frericks are juniors on the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team.

Frericks hounded Henderson all night, and the Lady Raiders earned a 48-44 victory in the KHQA/Subway Superfan Shootout at The Pit.  Henderson made 1 of 11 field-goal attempts as Edwardsville (26-1), ranked No. 3 in Class 4A, shot 33.3 percent from the field overall.

“Defense is definitely my favorite part of the game,” said Frericks, who limited Hardin Calhoun all-stater Jocie Klocke to five points on 2-of-11 shooting last weekend. “Defense is just as important as making a basket on the offense.  Everybody knows we need it on both sides.”

Frericks provided production on both ends of the floor.  She finished with 15 points — 13 in the first half — and a game-high 12 rebounds.  Henderson fouled out with 4 minutes, 19 seconds remaining in the game and her team trailing 41-35. The Lady Raiders extended the lead to 44-35 with 3:37 remaining before Edwardsville’s Kortney Dunbar scored eight consecutive points to close the deficit to 44-43 with 1:47 to play.  After an empty possession for QND, Edwardsville had a chance to take the lead, but Gengenbacher came up with a steal.  She was then fouled and sank two free throws to put QND ahead 46-43 with 1:14 remaining.

“There’s not really an option. You have to knock down your free throws in that kind of environment,” said Gengenbacher, one of the team’s top free-throw shooters.  “I don’t think I really thought about it. I just knew that if we were going to win this game, I have to put in these free throws. There’s just not much to it.”

After Edwardsville trimmed the deficit to two points with a free throw, Gengenbacher made another free throw with 35 seconds remaining to put QND up by three points again.  “She wants the ball in that situation,” QND coach Eric Orne said of Gengenbacher’s late free throws.  “When kids want the ball in that situation, that’s just a good thing.”

The Tigers missed a two-point field goal with time winding down on their ensuing possession, and Kristen Gengenbacher made 1 of 2 free throws to make it a two-possession game with 17 seconds remaining.  Gengenbacher finished with a game-high 16 points, 12 of which came in the second half.  She hit a 3-pointer with 7:14 remaining in the third quarter — her second three of the game — to give QND its biggest lead at 31-16.  Edwardsville responded with a 13-2 run, but it never led once during the game.  That was thanks in large part to the 9-0 run the Lady Raiders used to start the game.

“That was a big confidence boost for us,” Orne said.  “We came out and knocked down some big shots early, and that probably put them in a hole they’re not used to.”

Edwardsville spent much of the first half trying to dig out of the hole without Henderson, who came in as Edwardsville’s leading scorer at 16.4 points per game.  Frericks drew a charge on Henderson with 6:17 remaining before halftime.  The charge was Henderson’s second foul, and she was immediately whistled for a technical, marking her third foul.  Henderson went to the bench for the rest of the half. Henderson is 6-foot-2 and strongly built, but Frericks said that the charge was “in the moment, so I guess it didn’t hurt that much.”  “It was definitely exciting just knowing that would get so much enthusiasm going (after the charge) and give us so much more energy,” Frericks said.  “That gave us so much momentum and made us work harder.”

The Lady Raiders improved to 8-1 this season against ranked opponents.  That includes a 67-51 win Dec. 1 against Springfield, now ranked No. 1 in Class 3A.  Yet Saturday’s win was maybe even bigger, given that it came in QND’s regular-season finale.

“There’s no greater game that you can go out on (in the regular season) than that to get you momentum for your postseason,” Gengenbacher said. “We’re so fired up right now, and we can’t wait to play our next game.”

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Jordan Frericks’ shuts down all-stater Emmonnie Henderson

by: Blake Toppmeyer

Frericks has built a reputation of being a stat-sheet stuffer. That was no different Saturday, when she had 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven steals.

As impressive as Frericks’ stats usually are, however, they don’t always tell the full story with her. That was the case against Edwardsville.

Frericks, who is 6-foot-1, had the assignment of guarding Edwardsville’s 6-foot-2 all-stater Emmonnie Henderson. Although the players’ heights are nearly equal, Henderson has a significant edge in overall size and strength.

Didn’t matter.

Like she’s done with many opponents’ top post players this season, Frericks shut Henderson down. Edwardsville’s all-stater finished with four points, six rebounds, five fouls — including one technical — and made 1 of 11 field-goal attempts.

Just last weekend, Frericks shut down Hardin Calhoun’s all-stater Jocie Klocke in the championship of the Carrollton Tournament. Klocke, who leads all St. Louis-area girls basketball players with an average of 21.4 points per game, had five points on 2-of-11 shooting in that game.

“She just locks somebody up,” QND coach Eric Orne said of Frericks. “Playing defense just really comes from a strong will. She just was up for the challenge tonight, and it was an immense challenge. She just made Henderson get out of her game. Henderson obviously got frustrated.”

Henderson came into Saturday’s game averaging 16.4 points per game.

* Henderson scored 31 points in Edwardsville’s win this year against Cowden-Herrick, ranked No. 2 in Class 1A.

* She had 20 points in Edwardsville’s win against Salem, ranked No. 8 in Class 1A.

* She had 19 points in Edwardsville’s win against Teutopolis, ranked No. 10 in Class 2A.

* She had 17 in Edwardsville’s win against Nashville, ranked No. 5 in Class 2A.

* She had seven points in Edwardsville’s win against Breese Central, ranked No. 4 in Class 2A.

Henderson’s four points Saturday were a season low.

Take nothing away from Klocke and Henderson. They’ve both proven they’re great basketball players and have dominated most opponents this year. But not QND, and not Frericks.