Cardinals' Fronek no longer settling for jump shots
WAUSAU - Signe Fronek was known as a player who would settle for jump shots more often than not during her sophomore year with the Newman Catholic girls basketball team last year.
Her coaches challenged the 5-foot-10 guard/forward to be a more aggressive offensive player before the Cardinals faced Crandon in the third game of the season this year.
"I said to her, 'People know you are a 3-point shooter. You need to find a way to contribute to the team without just being a 3-point threat," Cardinals coach Jason Vanden Elzen said during a team practice Monday. "She got to the foul line 12 times for us (against Crandon) and made about nine or 10 of them.
"The past few games she has been struggling a bit (with the outside shot) but she is finding a way to contribute and get to the free throw line," Vanden Elzen said. "She is averaging about 15 to 16 points (a game) and that is without her 3-point shot being where it needs to be. But there are going to be games where it is."
RELATED:DCE's Berdal making big contributions on the ice
RELATED: Westberg has gone from goal scorer to stopper
Fronek's growth as an offensive player is a reason why she is averaging a team-best 15.6 points per game for a Cardinals team that entered the week with a 6-1 record. Fronek is part of a balanced lineup as three players are averaging double figures and a fourth is averaging 8.6 points per game.
Fronek was a honorable mention selection to the all-Marawood Conference-South Division team last season.
RELATED: Wausau West sophomore guard making a name for herself
"(Fronek) brings a lot of energy," Vanden Elzen said. "She uses her length to the best of her ability ... and she has come into her own as a dual-threat player both offensively and defensively."
Let’s begin with the team. You are off to a 6-1 start and the loss was by eight points. What does this start mean for this group? The start really helps our confidence. Last year we weren’t doing very well at all at the start. (The 6-1 record) helps with the team chemistry At practice we are a lot happier and things are just a lot better.
The loss was to Stratford. What did you learn from that game? We learned that we really beat ourselves in that game. Our stats were down from our averages in the past games that we did win. We just didn’t perform to the best of our abilities in that game and I think that is what caused that loss.
Assumption is a different team than it was the past few years, but you went in there last week and came out with a win. How big was that for the team’s mindset? That win was really great and for me, personally, was really fun. I know our seniors, Lauren Fech, Kate David and Makayla Slaby, were all super happy we won because in their entire high school career, I think they only beat (Assumption) once.
It has been a good start to the year, but the season has barely begun. What does this team still have to improve on? I think we just need to get more consistent in doing the little things, especially like boxing out (on rebounds) and just knowing where we need to be and who we are guarding. Just knowing exactly what we need to do and then performing to the best of our ability.
Talk about yourself. You had a strong year last season but how are you a different player now? I think I have grown as a player the most on defense. I just feel a lot more confident in it. I feel like I know where I am this year and feel that my help (on defense) is a lot better. It was just little mistakes here and there last year. This year I don’t feel that I am making as many and it is helping my confidence.
Touch on your offensive game. You have scored double figures in every game so far. Where have you grown on that side of the ball? Last year I was focused more on just pure shooting. That’s all I wanted to do. This year I’m still shooting (jump shots) but I am driving to the basket more and attacking the hoop.
This team has balanced scoring pretty much every game. What is it like to have the number of offensive options this team has? Lauren Fech has always been the biggest scoring threat for us, but we also have a lot of younger players who have stepped up. Julia Seidel has been a really big asset to us and so has Jadelyn Ganski. (Ganski) is 6-foot and you can just feed (the ball) to her in the post. We have (offense) dispersed all around now instead of just focusing on one or two people that other teams have to worry about.
Tim Johnson: 715-845-0731, or timothy.johnson@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter @timmyjo11
SIGNE FRONEK
School: Newman Catholic
Year: Junior
Sports: Basketball, track
Family:Father, Kevin; mother Mikki; brother, Dane
Favorite subject: Psychology, definitely. I want to specialize in for college, forensic psychology
Favorite athlete:I look up to (Indiana University guard) Tyra Buss.
Favorite team: Indiana Hoosiers. I have this obsession with Indiana.
Favorite movie: I really like "Pitch Perfect"
Cartoon character: SpongBob SquarePants
Most memorable game: The playoff game last year against Assumption. In the first half we made a run on them. After that it all went downhill from there, but just the fact that we made a run and were close made it really memorable for me.