One game short
Frasure leads with 16 points, but North Judson loses to Tipton in 2A semistate game
LOGANSPORT — In scoring over 2,000 points for her career, North Judson senior Lilliann Frasure is one of just seven Indiana girls basketball players to achieve that feat.
With over 1,000 rebounds, 500 steals and 450 assists for her career as well, the Indiana Wesleyan signee has put her name in rarefied company.
“To me, she’s a top-five player in the state,” North Judson coach Chris Newbauer said. “To have the career numbers she’s had, I can’t imagine there are too many players in Indiana to ever have those.
“We don’t play a typical (Class) 2A schedule. We play some of the best teams around and compete, and she shows up for us every single time.
As good as things have gone for Frasure over her career, Saturday’s Class 2A Logansport Semistate showed how sometimes it just isn’t your night.
Shooting 29% from the field and 16% on 3-pointers, North Judson managed just two points in the fourth quarter. Tipton scored the last 15 points in a 54-36 win, earning a berth in next weekend’s state championship game.
“It just wasn’t meant to happen,” Frasure said. “We got the shots we wanted to, but they just weren’t falling as much as we wanted them to.”
Tipton (20-7) converted 19 of 24 from the free-throw line and shot 7 of 13 from 3-point range.
Newbauer pointed to Hallie
Wolfe’s deep 3-pointer late in the third quarter as a difference-maker. Wolfe would also hit another three in the fourth, beginning the string of 15 unanswered points.
“That was big, and Tipton hit their shots,” Newbauer said. “You could tell we were ready to play and we came out and tried to the best we could to execute our game plan, and we just didn’t make enough shots.
“At this point of the year, when you’ve got two really good teams going, it’s whoever makes shots. It’s really as simple as that.”
Frasure finished with 16 points and seven rebounds to lead North Judson (20-6).
Exiting the game for the final time in a Bluejay uniform with 53 seconds left, Frasure, Newbauer and fellow senior starters Adalynn Harper and Abby Chambers shared an emotional embrace.
“He told us how proud he is of us and how amazing it was to even get here,” Frasure said of Newbauer. “He said he could have asked for a better group of girls and, honestly, me neither.
“This is the best team I’ve ever been a part of and couldn’t ask for anything better. We’re a family, nothing less than an absolute family. We’ve all known each other our whole lives, so to get to be able to play with each other in this atmosphere, it’s pretty special.”
As a group, the North Judson seniors went 83-18.
“They make it fun,” Newbauer said. “They’re good basketball players but even better people. We started off the season quarantining twice and didn’t even know if we were gonna play.
“They were leaders on our team in how they were able to guide us through that, and we wouldn’t be here without them.”
For her career, Frasure totaled 2,237 points, 1,025 rebounds, 502 steals and 460 assists. She’s now fourth all-time in area history in points. Debbie Bolen, a 1988 North Judson graduate, ranks third with 2,421.
“I really couldn’t have asked for anything better in my entire life,” Frasure said of playing for North Judson. “The hardest part is knowing I’ll never get to play with these girls again.
“Sure, I’ll remember the wins and the stats, but when I look back at it, what I’ll remember most is the lifelong group of friends I’ve made from this. I’m blessed and honored to get a chance to play at a higher level, and I’ll play the same way there that I did here — always my hardest and always for my team.”