Batavia's Frazier finishes second to none
No. 25 will leave Batavia as No. 1 - in more ways than one.
Hannah Frazier capped her four years dominating inside for Batavia by averaging 22.3 points and 8.9 rebounds a game, bringing her career totals to 2,089 points and 1,029 rebounds.
She's also still tied for No. 1 in Batavia's senior class, on the verge of graduating as valedictorian while also leaving as the most prolific scorer in school history.
Books or boards, scoring buckets or studying science, Frazier has left a mark that is going to be tough to match.
"It's definitely a pretty big deal I think. I pride myself on working hard in class," Frazier said. "It's not just all about basketball. Hopefully I can keep it up to graduation because it would be really cool to graduate with that honor."
When Frazier first stepped on the court as a freshman Batavia had won a total of 2 regional titles. The Bulldogs won as many regionals in her four years as the 35 years before.
They also shared a pair of Upstate Eight Conference River championships with Geneva, won the first sectional game in their history, and set a school record with 26 wins in Frazier's senior season.
For the second straight year, Frazier is the honorary co-captain of the Daily Herald Fox Valley All-Area Girls Basketball Team. She scored 715 points this year, doing it in efficient fashion by getting to the free-throw line 243 times - 62 more than anyone in the area - and sinking 80 percent. She shares the award with Huntley senior Ali Andrews.
Frazier also shot 56 percent from the field, mixing in a deadly jumper with her strong post moves. No matter how many times an opponent yelled "she's going left," Frazier still went left and scored, often with an "and-1."
"My freshman year we were a decent team, it was fun, but I never thought we would get to where we are," Frazier said. "When you look back and see everything we accomplished, we did so much more than people thought we would do coming into the season. We weren't ranked or anything in preseason polls and we came in and beat a lot of top teams and won a conference and regional.
"It's been a terrific senior season and I'm so blessed to play with these girls for four years," Frazier said of teammates like fellow senior starters Shea Bayram, Jess Koch and Bethany Orman.
As a sophomore Frazier teamed with senior Liza Fruendt for a memorable season. She showed plenty of signs of what was to come - 25 points, 16 rebounds at the McDonald's Shootout, 22 points and 14 rebounds in the school's first regional championship win in 24 years, and 21 points and the game-winning basket in Batavia's first sectional win over Downers Grove North.
She finished that season averaging 12.8 points and 8.4 rebounds while shooting 55 percent from the field, then upped those numbers to 22.1 points and 9.2 rebounds as a junior.
"She came in as a freshman and won 18 games, almost averaged a double-double then," Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. "She's done nothing but improve since. It's hard to be able to think of someone being able to match those accomplishments... 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds doesn't come around very often."
Jensen also is well aware of Frazier's impact off the court, and not just in the classroom.
"I'm going to miss her as a baby-sitter," joked Jensen, who lives 2 blocks from Frazier. "She's such a good person to have around. That's the fun part. They (his players) have a big effect on our family as well."
"He has some of the greatest kids," Frazier said of Liam, 6, and Aubrey, 3, who she'll often hoist high or give a big hug after games. "They always come to our games or to shootaround and grab all the balls. They are really great. I love hanging out with them. It's all part of the whole, it's like a family at Batavia. They are all so close and he can bring his kids and the team gets along so well. It's special."
Frazier has another neighbor, ironically, Geneva coach Sarah Meadows who despite having to game plan against her for 4 years has nothing but respect for Frazier's game.
"Hannah is a stud for sure," Meadows said. "She is hard to guard. She is their spirit on their team. You can just see the determination in her face. I can't say enough good things about that kid. She can take over a game. The thing about Hannah is as good of a basketball player she is she's even a nicer kid. Good sportsmanship goes a long way. You have to respect that."
Frazier's senior year started with a bang, an early win over Trinity that served notice the Bulldogs were much improved over last year's .500 squad. Batavia continued its strong start by beating St. Charles North and Rolling Meadows, then headed to the toughest Christmas tournament in the state at Montini. The Bulldogs took sixth, knocking off Huntley, playing Montini to a tie game into the final minute before losing by 5, and losing by 1 to Evanston.
Batavia rode that momentum into the second half of the season and stunned Geneva 57-56 on the Vikings' home court. Frazier scored 27 in that win, then had 30 as the Bulldogs beat St. Charles East to earn a share of the UEC River crown.
Frazier also went over the 2,000-point total against the Saints, yet deflected the attention afterward - something that's nothing new to teammates.
"She's so sweet to me," said freshman Geddy Rerko, a post like Frazier. "She's a mentor. She helps me out with so much. She tells me what to do and how to face up and encourages me to shoot. She's been a real good teacher and leader, been amazing especially as a freshman."
Next for Frazier is St. Louis University, which Jensen called a perfect fit for her academically, athletically and socially. Pretty much every way except that Hannah and her mom Erin are die-hard Cubs fans.
"They have a really good program in engineering which I want to major in and the whole team has a real high GPA," Frazier said. "That's something the coach and the school itself really stresses there. They just clinched their own conference title. Big things are happening over there and I'm really excited to go be a part of it."
Looks like Frazier is stepping into a program at St. Louis like the one she just helped blossom at Batavia.