Iowa History Daily: On February 16, 1987, Lynne Lorenzen scored 54 points in a 6-on-6 basketball game between Ventura and Meservey-Thornton and set the national high school scoring record. By the time Lorenzen capped a 31-0 senior season with a state title, she accrued 6,736 points.
Lorenzen, born with basketball in her blood, honed her skills in the family’s red barn. Lynne’s mother, Frances Billerbeck formed the double-trouble Billerbecks for the 1952 Reinbeck High School team which captured with her twin sister Francine. Thousands of hours of practice banking in shots in the barn prepared Lorenzen for hardwood stardom at Ventura High School.
In a career chock-full of highlights, Lorenzen once notched a 100 point game against Woden-Crystal Lake in 1986. After capturing the national scoring record, a trip to the legendary ‘Barn’ (Veterans Memorial) in Des Moines awaited where the Ventura Vikings topped the Rams of Southeast Polk to capture the state championship.
Named the Naismith women’s high school basketball player of the year in 1987, Lorenzen went on to star at Iowa State from 1987 to 1991. A member of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Hall of Fame, Lorenzen’s legacy still reminds Iowans of the glory days when 6-on-6 girls basketball drew the attention and acclaim of Iowans statewide. #IowaOTD #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaHistoryCalendar
