Local freshmen contributing early to their college teams
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Two local athletes have reached their first winter breaks with their college basketball teams.
Marissa Fronk, a 2021 Medford graduate, is averaging 11.6 minutes per game as one of the key players off the bench for the St. Catherine University Wildcats women’s basketball team.
The Wildcats are off to a 4-5 start, including 3-3 mark in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Fronk has 20 points in the first nine games, including a high of six in the team’s season-opening 64-40 loss to North Park University in a game played Nov. 5 in Chicago. She was three for three from the field and had four rebounds in that game. Fronk had five rebounds and four assists the next day in a 79-37 win over Illinois Institute of Technology.
Fronk also scored six points and had two steals in a 63-58 loss at Concordia College of Moorhead, Minn. on Nov. 13. She had a season-high six rebounds along with a bucket in a 70-53 loss to the University of Northwestern on Nov. 17. She had a bucket and was two for two from the free throw line Saturday in a 65-55 loss to Gustavus Adolphus College.
After an extended holiday break, the Wildcats will be back in action Jan. 5 when they visit league-leading Augsburg University. They’ll host the College of Saint Benedict on Jan. 8 in St. Paul.
Andrew Hecker, who played for the Gilman Pirates in 2019-20 and 2020-21, is averaging 10.3 points through seven games with the Faith Baptist Bible College men’s basketball team. The Eagles are off to a 3-4 start. The school is located in Ankeny, Iowa and plays in the Midwest Christian College Conference.
Hecker is the fourth-leading scorer for the Eagles and leads the team in field goal percentage at 45.8% (27 for 59). He had hit 30% of his 3-point shots (nine for 30) and nine of his 13 free throws. He is also averaging 3.6 rebounds per game and has eight assists, seven steals and two blocked shots.
The biggest game so far for the freshman came Dec. 2 in a 91-83 win at Spurgeon College. Hecker went off for 20 points in 21 minutes, hitting eight of 13 shots, including two of five 3s, and he had four rebounds. His 15 second-half points sparked the team’s comeback from an 11-point deficit with 11:44 left.
He hit all six of his shots, including three 3s while scoring 15 points in 16 minutes in a 101-64 loss at Simpson on Nov. 16. He had 14 points three nights later in a 104-51 loss to Presentation.
The team won its most recent game on Saturday, 84-74 in overtime over Maranatha Baptist University in the final game of the Eagles’ Christmas Classic. The team returns to action Jan. 7 against Barclay College in the start of a two-day event at Calvary College. It’s also the start of eight straight games away from home. The last game of that stretch is Jan. 25 at Emmaus Bible College, a team that includes 2020 Rib Lake graduate Steven Petkau.
