Jan. 21--Hannah Frazier's plan for Monday's contest against Fremd contradicted her game and personality.
The Batavia senior forward prefers to play an unselfish brand of hoops in which her teammates have ample opportunities to contribute.
The scouting report on Frazier indicates her penchant to play in the paint, where her array of left-handed shots and deft footwork befuddles opponents.
In the opening minutes of Batavia's contest against No. 3 Fremd, the 6-foot-2 Frazier broke character.
The St. Louis recruit shot on Batavia's first four possessions, and put up six of her team's first 10 attempts. Most of the shots were from 15 feet away or farther. She hit a deep two-pointer, a 17-footer from the wing and misfired on a 3-pointer.
From the sideline, Batavia coach Kevin Jensen gazed admiringly at Frazier's maturation from supporting player to top dog on the Bulldogs.
"Hannah has gotten a lot more aggressive this year and showing more aspects of her game," Jensen said. "Her natural personality is not to get the light to shine on her. She's comfortable being one of the girls. For some time, it was out of her comfort level to be the alpha dog. She had a pretty good shot last year, but she's much more willing to come out and hit a jumper to start a game."
Frazier scored 10 of Batavia's first 17 points Monday before a switch in defense by the Vikings limited the Bulldogs to 12 points over the final 22 minutes in a 65-29 defeat. Frazier finished with 18 points, and although frustrated with the loss, she was satisfied with her performance. Frazier said she had added motivation to display her improved outside range.
Four of Fremd's players were her teammates on her AAU team, and Vikings coach Dave Yates coached her during her sophomore AAU season.
"I was thinking to come out there shooting outside jumpers right away because their coach and players know me," Frazier said. "I think it caught them off-guard and took them some time to adjust. It was a game I was motivated to play in."
Throughout her four varsity seasons, Frazier has proven her ability to contribute in a variety of ways. Her chief job in her first two seasons was to play post defense and rebound in a complementary role to Liza Fruendt, the team's all-time leading scorer.
In her junior season, Frazier's role expanded Despite battling constant double teams on a 15-15 squad, Frazier averaged 22.1 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots.
"I knew with Liza gone last year that somebody would have to step in and fill that scoring role," Frazier said. "I knew I would have to take on a bigger role, but I didn't realize how much it would be. I knew I had to be aware of looking to take my own shots, instead of posting up or just getting rebounds."
Frazier's off-court numbers are even more impressive. She's No. 1 in her class, has a 4.375 grade-point average and scored a 31 on her ACT.
The daughter of a preacher, Frazier is averaging 21.9 points, 9 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocks this season for the 16-5 Bulldogs. She trails Freundt's scoring record by only 91 points.
"I never thought I would break (Liza's) records," Frazier said. "She was such a great leader and I had a huge motivation to be like her one day, but not to break her records. I always looked up to her. I never thought this could be real until last year."
Bob Narang is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
