Natalie Frempong is everywhere Naperville North needs her to be.
There is nothing the junior guard can’t — or won’t — do for her team.
“She’s very versatile and kind of a fearless leader out there for us,” Naperville North coach Aly Miller said. “We can put her anywhere, and she’ll go out there and execute.”
Indeed, Frempong is capable of playing any of the five positions and often sees time at multiple spots during a game. She even played center on defense for a while during the Huskies’ 65-44 win over Burlington Central in the consolation quarterfinals of the Montini Christmas Tournament in Lombard on Thursday.
Frempong was sensational overall against the Rockets, recording a career-high 32 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals. She made 13 of 25 shots, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range, but didn’t force anything.
“She is just unstoppable at both ends,” Miller said. “She’s a kid that rarely comes off the floor, and her energy that she can sustain for 32 minutes is just unreal.”
Frempong is averaging 20.3 points,4.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.2 steals. She has had several high-scoring outings since moving into the starting lineup last season, but for overall greatness, her performance on Thursday was her best yet.
“I think this probably was my best game, just kind of all around,” she said. “There’s definitely been a couple games where I’ve put up not a lot of points, but a lot of rebounds, just grind work behind the scenes. But I definitely feel this is my best game.”
Frempong missed her first four shots but then made seven straight, including a trio of 3-pointers and several layups off slashing drives to the hoop.
That allowed the Huskies (7-6) to turn a 6-5 deficit into a 33-19 lead. Frempong capped the burst by getting a defense rebound, racing nearly the length of the court and whipping a nifty pass from the left corner to sophomore guard Mia Podkasik for a layup.
“She plays an unselfish game while still finding time to get her own, obviously,” Miller said of Frempong. “Her confidence around the basket has just grown tremendously, and she’s done a great job of finding the people around her.”
Those players include senior shooting guard Anna Richards, who had 18 points and five steals against the Rockets (3-9). Richards made six 3-pointers, including five in the second half. Several came off passes from Frempong.
“It was great,” Richards said. “It’s fun to play with a good point guard because I’m a shooter. So I know she’ll be looking for me.
“You always need somebody like that, especially somebody who can draw away the defense, because it creates open shots. And she’s always looking for her teammates.”
Miller said she thought Frempong played a “great unselfish” game Thursday. That was reflected in the performance of the rest of the Huskies, who combined to shoot 13 of 31. That also showed how Frempong’s leadership is rubbing off.
“I’ve definitely grown into it,” she said. “It’s definitely a great position to be in. It has some lows, but I feel like I’ve definitely picked up on the highs and helped my girls on communicating on the court, directing them where to go, knowing when to slow it down. We had great shot selection today.”
The Huskies’ win broke a four-game losing streak, which included a 61-46 opening-round tournament loss to York, a team they had beaten 16 days earlier.
“Miller said we have to stick to us and just worry about us,” Frempong said. “We can’t worry about anybody else and all the distractions.
“After the past four games, we knew we had to bounce back so we could have a good tournament overall. We’re not going to let the first game take us out of it.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
