Peoria Richwoods 56, Freeport 19: No one knew what to say. Parents silently hugged their crying daughters. And parents weren’t the only ones to struggle for words after Freeport crashed in the Class 3A girls state basketball title game.
“One of the hardest things I’ve ever done was trying to figure out what to say to the girls during our timeouts,” coach Ryan Pierce said after Saturday’s 56-19 loss to Peoria Richwoods. “When the game was over, our worst nightmare had come true.”
The countdown began three years ago, after Freeport finished a close second in the conference.
“We knew at that point how lucky we were,” girls basketball coach Ryan Pierce said, “to have three more years with this group.”
The Pretzels’ luck finally ran out. It’s now over. An unprecedented era that saw Katie Norman, Suporia Dickens, Courtney Shiffer and Kelsey Hoefer all score 1,000 career points and the Pretzels go 61-3 in the NIC-10 and 110-22 overall ended Saturday with a second consecutive Class 3A state runner-up trophy.
Rochelle 52, Freeport 49: Late-game struggles have hampered the Freeport boys basketball team at times during the season, and Friday night at the Sterling Regional, the Pretzels had another case of late-game issues.
After leading throughout, Rochelle stormed back and stole a 52-49 win and a regional championship.
“It was a real heartbreaker,” Freeport’s Wes Gastel said. “We had them down big and they came back.
“We all had shots we feel we should have made.”
NORMAL — Defending state runner-up Freeport will return to the Class 3A girls basketball state finals Saturday after a dominating 64-43 victory over Springfield this afternoon.
Freeport never led by fewer than 10 points after breaking away from an 8-all tie with a 10-0 run to close the first quarter.
The Senators closed to within 49-39 early in the final quarter after Freeport turned the ball over on five of its first seven possessions. But Suporia Dickens (five) and Courtney Shiffer (four) then sparked an 11-0 run that put the Pretzels ahead comfortably 60-39.
Freeport 53, Johnsburg 52: The searing pressure that seemed to rattle four All-Staters made Kelsey Hoefer smile.
“I love these games,” Hoefer said. “I love the atmosphere. I love all the people that come out to support their teams. I love playing in big games. It’s when I’m the most calm.”
Hoefer backed up her words by scoring a season-high 22 points and leading Freeport back to state with a 53-52 comeback win over Johnsburg in the Elgin Class 3A girls basketball supersectionals Monday night.
Boylan 73, Freeport 58: After an un-Boylanlike start to the year, the Titans appear to be back in form as the postseason nears.
Boylan (17-9, 11-5 NIC-10) stormed out to a 16-point first-quarter lead and rolled over Freeport (14-13, 7-9) 73-58 on Friday night, finishing third in the conference after a rough start.
The Titans lost five of their first 10 conference games of the year, but finished with six straight league victories. They open regional play Monday against Harlem.
Freeport 55, Oswego 47: Thursday’s sectional championship game was bizarre, to say the least.
The scoreboard went blank just before tipoff, Marengo’s gym lights went out within the first three minutes of the game — and Freeport point guard Katie Norman was sick.
But none of that could stop the Pretzels from clinching their second-straight sectional championship, 55-47 against Oswego.
Norman said she was sick immediately after school and was worse on her way to Marengo.
Freeport 54, Hampshire 47: Ryan Pierce was fed up.
And the usually mild-mannered Freeport girls basketball coach let his team — a few players directly — know about it in the third quarter.
The fire-and-brimstone speech inspired the Pretzels after an uninspired first half and helped Freeport beat Hampshire 54-47 Monday.
“I’m not the kind of coach that likes to point directly at people and call people out for things,” Pierce said. “I like to address the group. ... But I felt I needed to change that strategy for a minute there. I got on people for specific things.”
Freeport guard Wes Gastel could tell as soon as the whistle blew what went wrong.
He hesitated before going up for a shot. And it cost the Pretzels one last chance to tie the game with less than two minutes to go as Hononegah won, 61-54.
“There was a long outlet pass and I got the pass and saw the defender jump,” Gastel said. “So I took my time a little and travelled.
“I should have just taken it up.”
Freeport 48, Sterling 34: The thought of a “Sterling curse” can finally be to put to rest.
Even though for the first half, it almost seemed like the Freeport girls basketball team started to shoot like it from the free-throw line.
But Courtney Shiffer (game-high 21 points, four blocks, three steals), Kelsey Hoefer (nine points, 2-of-2 FTs), Katie Norman (nine points, 2-of-2 FTs) and Suporia Dickens (nine points, 3-of-6 FTs) each made them in the second half when needed most as the Pretzels (27-3) beat Sterling, 48-34.
Guilford 60, Freeport 58: Guilford’s Thomas Hawkins hit a 15-foot jumper with 1.8 seconds for the win. Guilford (8-18, 4-10) jumped out to a 23-19 lead after the first quarter and held off a Freeport (14-11, 7-7) comeback in the fourth quarter, when the Pretzels outscored the Vikings 19-10.
Spencer Young led Guilford with 13 points and eight rebounds, and Hawkins followed up with 12 points (eight in the first quarter) and 10 assists. Timmy Hill added 11 points. Freeport’s Eric Douglas led all scorers with 21 points.
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Freeport 59, Dixon 35:Freeport (26-3) went on a 15-0 run that lasted just over two minutes to wipe out a 3-0 lead by Dixon (9-18).
Suporia Dickens led Freeport with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Katie Norman had 14 points and Courtney Shiffer 12. Freeport outrebounded Dixon 37-15.
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Freeport 59, Dixon 35: Dixon, outgunned and outmanned, played confidently and aggressively against No. 7 Freeport in the semifinals of the Class 3A Sterling Regional.
“It’s a night to be loose and free,” coach Bob Venier said. “When you know the cards are against you, just go out and play hard and do the things you were coached to do and prove to yourself that it works. And it did.”
Freeport 57, Jefferson 35: The Pretzels wrapped up their NIC-10 schedule with a 16-0 record. Suporia Dickens’ 16 was high for Freeport.
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Jefferson 60, Freeport 59: The J-Hawks survived despite being outscored 14-5 in the fourth period. Jordan Kerley scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the first quarter, as Jefferson grabbed a 22-10 advantage.
Ryan Hickey ignited Freeport’s comeback with 11 of his team-high 19 points in the second quarter.
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Freeport 61, Harlem 38: Freeport used a 22-point third quarter to overcome a 22-19 halftime deficit. Suporia Dickens led Freeport with 17 points. Kristin Numbers topped Harlem with 11.
Freeport 53, Harlem 48: Eric Douglas doesn’t have too many opportunities to block a shot. Freeport’s junior guard, listed at 5-foot-11, had a powerful one Friday against Harlem with a minute to go in the third quarter.
That defensive intensity seeped into the fourth quarter and helped the Pretzels to a 53-48 NIC-10 boys basketball victory.
“I don’t get that many blocks but I tried to get that one for the team after a goofy turnover,” said Douglas, who finished with 12 points, a game-high 13 rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Freeport 51, Sterling 50: Led by Austin Davis’ 20 points, Freeport rallied for the win.
Joseph Bertrand led Sterling with 19 points and Dustin Fritsch had 17.
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Freeport 69, Guilford 35: Kelsey Hoefer is back.
And with the postseason one week away, it’s not a moment too soon for Freeport.
Hoefer, a 5-foot-10 senior forward, scored 10 points Tuesday to help lead the Pretzels to a 69-35 win at Guilford. It was the second straight day of scoring in double figures for Hoefer, which is a first for her this season.
“She’s looking good again,” Freeport coach Ryan Pierce said. “She always scored at least 10 points every game the last three years, but this is the first time she’s done it in back-to-back games this season.”
Freeport 53, Hononegah 33: Freeport pulled ahead in the first quarter and held on for a 53-33 win against Hononegah Monday.
The Pretzels led 15-5 heading into the second quarter, and despite going 6 for 20 in free throws, remained unbeaten in the NIC-10.
Kelsey Hoefer and Katie Norman scored 15 and 12 points for Freeport (22-3, 13-0 NIC-10).
Lindsay Carroll led Hononegah in scoring with nine points.
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Monroe 52, Freeport 41: Monroe grabbed an 18-8 first-quarter lead.
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Freeport 44, Monroe 35: Josh Lewis had 14 points, including two 3s, for Freeport, which outscored Monroe 18-4 in the fourth quarter.
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Freeport 57, Auburn 56: Freeport saw a 17-point third-quarter lead evaporate and a last-second shot by Auburn fall short as the Pretzels earned a NIC-10 boys victory Friday.
“We started taking some quick shots and making turnovers,” Freeport junior forward Austin Davis said of Auburn’s comeback. “But we got it back together at the end and got the win out of it.”
Freeport led 39-22 with 6:26 left in the third period before Auburn turned up the defense and hit several 3-pointers to slice the deficit to 45-44 midway through the fourth quarter.
Freeport 59, Auburn 42: It might have been Kelsey Hoefer’s hardest shot and one of the more painful ones she’s taken this year. But the senior forward banked in her 1,000th career point and became the 10th player in Freeport girls history and the fourth active player to reach the plateau.
The Pretzels found a way to win a very physical contest against Auburn Friday, 59-42, despite Hoefer’s injured back after scoring her fourth point of the night and Katie Norman nearly missing the second half with an injury to her nose.
Belvidere North 52, Freeport 49: Freeport’s troubles behind the 3-point line were like one of the Pretzel cheerleaders’ flips down the court in the fourth quarter — the form was dead-on, but they couldn’t stick the landing.
A Ryan Hickey 3-pointer, with more than two defenders contesting the shot, fell short just before time expired in a 52-49 boys basketball loss to Belvidere North. The Pretzels finished 5-for-26 from behind the 3-point line, including 1-for-9 by Hickey. The Blue Thunder were 3-for-12.
Freeport 52, Belvidere North 28: Katie Norman scored 18 points, while Suporia Dickens and Courtney Shiffer added 10 each to lead Freeport, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A. The Pretzels (20-2, 11-0) outscored North 16-0 in the third quarter.
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Freeport 64, Belvidere 30: Katie Norman and Suporia Dickens led the charge for Freeport with 18 and 11 points. Sylvia Slaughter had seven points for Belvidere.
Freeport 72, Guilford 55: Austin Davis scored nine points in the first quarter to give Freeport an early lead on its way to a 72-55 win over Guilford Tuesday.
The Pretzels outscored Guilford 24-9 in the first quarter. Davis finished with 14 points. Ryan Hickey (15 points), Eric Douglas (13) and Josh Lewis (13) added double figures. Spencer Young led the Vikings with 14 points.
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FREEPORT — Suporia Dickens scored 15 points to lead Freeport to a 70-49 home win against Guilford Wednesday. Katie Norman and Courtney Shiffer added 12 points apiece, while Kelsey Hoefer chipped in 11. Tiffany Martinez (10) and Stephanie House (10) led the Vikings.
Auburn 51, Belvidere North 47: Led by Atiya Roby (14), Anita Amisi (12) and Tierny Austin (12), Auburn held off Belvidere North. Jillian Leutscher led North with 9 points.
FREEPORT — This time, Lombard Montini shot well.
It still might not have been enough if Freeport had remained calmer in its frenetic rally in the final two minutes. Montini, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A girls basketball, upset No. 1 Freeport 51-47 Saturday night when Caitlin Greene’s 3-pointer to tie bounced off the front rim with three seconds to play.
Montini shot 48 percent (21 of 44) and made six 3-pointers after shooting only 20 percent in last year’s state semifinal loss to the Pretzels.
“We can shoot,” Montini coach Jason Nichols said. “We’re streaky, but we can shoot.”
Richwoods opened the game with four 3-point baskets to open to a 12-4 lead and hit three more in the final minutes of the second quarter to take a 37-14 lead into halftime.
Mason Alwan hit five 3-pointers for Richwoods and Jontell Lindsay added three more.
Alwan led all scorers with 15 points.
Freeport was led by Eric Douglas’ 10 points. Jon Mason chipped in five.
Freeport’s Ryan Hickey was named to the All-Tournament team.
FORRESTON — Freeport Aquin held on for a 59-58 win against Oregon on Wednesday at the Forreston Tournament.
Aquin led 28-23 at halftime, but the Hawks outscored the Bulldogs 35-31 in the second half.
Amboy 58, Christian Life 57, OT: Amboy survived a tight match that was tied at 25-25 at halftime and again at 51 at end of regulation.
River Ridge 65, Dakota 40: Dakota hung early with River Ridge, but a 29-point third quarter would secure the win for the Wildcats. River Ridge led 23-19 at halftime, but extended it to 52-36 by the end of the third.
FREEPORT — With a small roster and not a lot of height, Freeport will rely on its speed and athleticism this season.
That won’t be a problem with this group, seven-year coach Jeff Lawfer said.
“They’re a very athletic group of men,” said Lawfer, who led Freeport to a 16-13 (10-6 NIC-10) record last season. “They have the ability to mesh together and be a very good team.”
The rivalry that should just be starting ended Tuesday night when Freeport outlasted Boylan 54-50 in overtime.
The Pretzels, ranked No. 1 in Class 3A after returning their top four players from last year’s state runner-up team, passed their biggest hurdle to winning the NIC-10 in their first conference game. Boylan (5-1, 0-1) and Freeport (6-0, 1-0) won’t play again.
“It does kind of stink,” said forward Courtney Shiffer, who led Freeport with 22 points. “I’m glad we won. Otherwise, we would have really wanted to play them again.”
FREEPORT — They wanted to win conference. They just missed as freshmen, and then beat out three-time defending champ Hononegah as sophomores.
Then they wanted to be undefeated NIC-10 champs. They achieved that as juniors.
Four-year starters Katie Norman, Kelsey Hoefer and Courtney Shiffer, plus second-team all-state guard Suporia Dickens, have only one real goal left at Freeport: Win state.
LAGRANGE PARK — Terry Werntz threw everything Freeport had at Nazareth early, playing several of his best athletes both ways in the opening round playoff game Saturday.
The strategy worked for a quarter as the Pretzels jumped out to an early lead, but as the Pretzels tired, the Roadrunners kept putting points on the board, running away with a 63-29 win over Freeport at Nazareth Academy.
“When you’re going both ways you are going to drag,” the Freeport coach said. “That was our strategy and it looked good there for a while, but then our kids lost it.”
ROCKFORD — Down to its final chance to make the playoffs, Freeport came out strong and dominated an overmatched Jefferson team Friday.
The Pretzels (5-4) beat the J-Hawks (0-9), 40-8, to give them a fifth win needed for playoff eligibility. Freeport coach Terry Werntz said the Pretzels have 40 playoff points, which should be enough to get them into the postseason.
“I’m excited now, I’ll be excited in the morning. ... I really feel we’re in,” Werntz said. “Forty-one (points) would probably give me a heart attack because I just can’t envision it.”
ROCKFORD — The Freeport football team saw its fifth win slip out of its fingers several times Friday.
The Pretzels had key turnovers, allowed a late Guilford drive to tie the game in the final seconds and a disastrous offensive possession in overtime in their 35-28 loss to the Vikings at Guilford High School.
The loss means the Pretzels and Vikings will both have to win their final game next week to become playoff eligible. The Pretzels will travel to Jefferson and Guilford faces East.
FREEPORT – One Huskie batted at the ball. Then a second Huskie. And Wes Gastel still caught it for his fourth touchdown reception.
“I got my hand on it,” Harlem safety Sterling Hecox said. “Tyler Cox got his hand on it. And he still came down with the ball.
“He’s a great receiver, but we played better than them as a team.”
Harlem and Freeport traded one big play after another, but only the Huskies could make the little plays in Friday’s 42-30 NIC-10 victory over the Pretzels.
FREEPORT – Fasten your seatbelts: The NIC-10 has officially joined the 21st century.
As Ohio State keeps finding out in the BCS title game, modern offenses can score on any play. And with any player.
That’s now how it was done for 70 years in the NIC-10, even more staid than the Big Ten. But that’s how it’s done now.
“The conference used to be run, run, run,” Harlem assistant coach Rich Infusino said. “But the trends are changing.”
ROCKTON — The difference between a win and a loss can be as small as a fingertip’s reach.
That was the difference Friday in Hononegah’s 27-21 win over Freeport.
On the final play of the game, Freeport quarterback Kevin Flack threw a Hail Mary into the end zone.
The ball bounced off the hand of an Indian defender, off the hand of Freeport’s Wes Gastel, then was batted to the ground by a Hononegah defender to end the game.
ROCKFORD - This wasn’t the same Auburn Knights football team of the past three weeks.
After three straight NIC-10 conference losses, Auburn nearly ran itself to a homecoming victory against Freeport on Friday.
Eddie Cade rushed for 217 yards, but Freeport’s pass-happy offense came through taking a 54-42 victory.
Cade, who was featured sparingly at running back in last week’s 45-6 loss against Guilford, played the entire game at the position and it paid immediate dividends.
He scored the Knights’ first two touchdowns on breakaway runs of 59 and 74 yards.
FREEPORT — The Freeport Homecoming crowd roared as Wes Gastel crossed the goal line in the waning moments of Freeport’s 37-28 win over Belvidere.
Gastel returned a Belvidere onside kick try 48 yards for a touchdown with 2:14 to play.
Gastel extended the Pretzels lead to nine when he caught the onside kick on a high bounce and had a clear path to end zone.
“I thought about just dropping because of the time situation,” Gastel said. “I just didn’t want to risk not getting the first if there wasn’t enough time.”
ROCKFORD — Freeport’s offense got into the end zone three times against Boylan on Friday at Titans Stadium.
But it wasn’t nearly enough to get past the Titans, who ended up taking a 56-20 NIC-10 victory.
Wes Gastel, the reigning NIC-10 offensive MVP, returned the opening kickoff 88 yards for a Pretzels’ TD.
The Titans marched down field in a span of two minutes and scored on Will Sahlstrom’s 8-yard run.
FREEPORT — If Freeport coach Terry Werntz had any questions about how his team would adapt to a spread offense, they were answered on Friday.
“After tonight we can be believers in it,” Werntz said.
Quarterback Kevin Flack led the offense with 277 passing yards, three touchdowns and an interception, and running back Tony Thompson scored on his first two carries and rushed for 161 yards to lead the Pretzels to a 42-12 win and hand East its 21st straight loss.
FREEPORT — The Pretzels are giving stars Kevin Flack and Wes Gastel more room to operate.
“Freeport is a scary, scary team,” Hononegah coach Tim Sughroue said. “They have their whole backfield back. Wes Gastel is multifaceted; he can do anything.”
“They will be running the spread,” agreed Boylan coach Dan Appino, “and they will be dangerous.”
