The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Huskies senior Kaitlynn Fratz sets all-time Garrett County career scoring record
* University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown-bound senior plans to teach, play ball

By Kevin Spradlin
The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
ROMNEY, W.Va., Feb. 8 -- It's unlikely anyone would have minded if Northern Garrett senior Kaitlynn Fratz had taken the night off.

Or, at least, relaxed a bit in what turned out to be an athletically induced hostile environment as the Huskies visited the Hampshire Trojans on Tuesday in Romney, W.Va. After all, Fratz had just lit up Preston for 34 points to become Northern Garrett's all-time career scoring leader - male or female.

But taking it easy isn't the way Fratz plays. Besides, there was another longstanding record to be shattered. Fratz got off to a slow start, scoring only four points in the first quarter, but finished the first half with 16 points en route to a 31-point night.

Points 21 and 22, however, are especially meaningful. Diving ball first into traffic toward the net, Fratz's layup with one minute and 51 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Northern Garrett Huskies a 46-38 lead. It also broke Jenny Hillen's 26-year-old all-time career scoring record for high school basketball players in Garrett County.

To this date, no one in county history has scored more points in varsity high school basketball than Fratz.

Caught in an unexpected close game -- with somewhat questionable officiating that made an intense contest much more tense -- Fratz commented on her achievement after the Huskies finished off a 57-56 AMAC win.

Not surprisingly, the team but the ball in Fratz's hands to win it - and she did. With 27 seconds to play in regulation, Fratz hit a layup for a 57-56 lead. Hampshire's Lyndsay Whetzel took a pass near the net from Lindsey Miller, bounced off Northern sophomore Allison Yommer and put up the final shot.

The ball bounced harmlessly off the front of the rim and into Yommer's waiting hands.

"It feels great to know that I've accomplished that," Fratz said. "I've worked very hard."

Still, Fratz said she'd trade any individual record for a state championship. Her coach - and father - Steve Fratz said Kaitlynn "has an ability that not very many kids have."

"She's not afraid of messing up," he said. "She's not afraid of failing. That's what drives her."

And that seems to be what allows the obvious floor leader on a team of point guards to press so relentlessly toward the basket. She believes it's her shot to take.