Each year, Taylor McCabe and her Fremont teammates have taken a step or two closer to winning the first girls state basketball title in school history.
When McCabe was a freshman, Fremont came up just short of qualifying for state. As a sophomore, she helped guide the Tigers to the semifinals where Kelly Flynn's club dropped a 59-50 decision to Lincoln East in the Class A semifinals. A year ago, McCabe and the Tigers competed for a state championship in Nebraska's largest classification before falling 56-52 to Lincoln Pius X.
The good news for Flynn is McCabe returns in 2021-22 to take that next and final step in claiming Class A gold. Along with plenty of athletic ability and experience, McCabe brings deadly range from beyond the arc.
The 5-foot-9 guard, who made 106-of-254 shots from long range last year, is Nebraska's top returning 3-point shooter after she drilled 41.7-percent of her shots from beyond the arc a year ago. Flynn's sharp shooter shot 50-percent or better from long range 11 times in 27 contests, including a season-best four-for-five (80.0 percent) performance in a 79-67 loss to Pius X last January.
Regardless of where she was at on the floor, McCabe was tough to shut down. The 5-foot-9 guard sank 116-of-227 (51.1 percent) field goals and swished over 46 percent of her shots from the floor overall a year ago. McCabe ripped the cords 86 times in 108 (79.6 percent) tries from the free throw line as well.
The two-time Lincoln Journal Star Super-State selection averaged 23.6 points, 3.7 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 steals and blocked 0.9 shots per contest.
Gretna senior Grace Huntwork returns after making 41.3 percent of her 3-point tries last season, the second highest returning percentage from 2020-21, and Ally Kort of Meridian stretched opposing defenses with a 39.0 3-point percentage. Millard West's Elizabeth Hoffman and Livi Kraft of Omaha Westside round out this week's Top 5. Classes A, B, C1, C2, D1 and D2 are all represented in this week's Top 10.
In order to be considered for this week's Top 10, a returning player had to make at least 40 3-pointers a year ago. As you browse through the Top 10, listed on the line below each player's name is that player's 3-point field goal, total field goal and free throw shooting numbers as well as her total points scored for the year.
Taylor McCabe, Fremont
File photo by Samuel Mfinanga
1. Taylor McCabe, Fremont - 41.7 Percent106 3PM-254 3PA | 222 FGM-481 FGA | 86 FTM-108 FTA | 636 Points
2. Grace Huntwork, Gretna - 41.3 Percent43 3PM-104 3PA | 56 FGM-134 FGA | 21 FTM-28 FTA | 176 Points
3. Ally Kort, Meridian (Daykin) - 39.0 Percent48 3PM-123 3PA | 97 FGM-282 FGA | 26 FTM-56 FTA | 268 Points
4. Libby Hoffman, Millard West (Omaha) - 38.5 Percent42 3PM-109 3PA | 63 FGM-143 FGA | 8 FTM-11 FTA | 176 Points
5. Livi Kraft, Omaha Westside (Omaha) - 38.5 Percent55 3PM-143 3PA | 60 FGM-163 FGA | 4 FTM-9 FTA | 179 Points
6. Taryn Wharton, Bellevue West (Bellevue) - 37.9 Percent69 3PM-182 3PA | 142 FGM-342 FGA | 52 FTM-72 FTA | 405 Points
7. Jordan Metzler, Wakefield - 35.2 Percent58 3PM-165 3PA | 111 FGM-269 FGA | 41 FTM-54 FTA | 321 Points
8. McKinsey Long, Hastings - 35.0 Percent48 3PM-137 3PA | 92 FGM-243 FGA | 31 FTM-51 FTA | 263 Points
9. Katelyn Sanders, Lewiston - 34.4 Percent54 3PM-157 3PA | 114 FGM-323 FGA | 53 FTM-103 FTA | 345 Points
10. Alyssa Fortik, Malcolm - 33.6 Percent45 3PM-134 3PA | 113 FGM-257 FGA | 39 FTM-68 FTA | 310 Points
