FIle photo by Travis Rosenau Wabasso’s Caden Frericks stands at midcourt following a timeout during the Tomahawk-Valley Conference boys basketball title game against Nicollet in Wabasso this past Tuesday.

WABASSO — For a farm boy from Clements, Wabasso High School senior Caden Frericks knows how to put his hands to good use. Whether working the fields or dominating on the basketball court, where he routinely scores under the hoop or hauls in rebounds over often taller opponents, Frericks gets the job done.

He’s far from a showman and he’s not one to put himself over the team, but Frericks’ hard work this season has seen him put together a 27-game stretch of double-doubles with points and rebounds. That streak is impressive in itself, but it’s even more impressive considering the Rabbits just played their 27th game this past Tuesday, a Tomahawk-Valley Conference championship game win at home over Nicollet, giving Frericks a perfect regular season of double-doubles.

While Frericks hasn’t had the double-double streak as a personal goal this season, he’s happy to be noticed and appreciated.

“It means a lot that the players, coaches, people around, the fans, everybody, that they’re watching you and that they know they want you to play and they know you want to do good and they want you to succeed too,” Frericks said.

Frericks said that throughout the season, he was notified of his double-double run by his teammates and head coach Scott Leopold.

Frericks plays the forward position and isn’t exactly short at 6-foot-2, but he often matches up with players who have a longer reach than him or an inch or two in height on him. Frericks makes up for the height disadvantages he sometimes faces with his 225-pound frame and good positioning, however.

“I would say getting the position, you’ve got to get the position on the person,” Frericks said. “You just gotta use your size, so that’s what helps. You use your size and you can get them to where you want them to be and then it helps you get to where you want to be.”

Frericks is averaging 16.8 points and 15.8 rebounds per game this season and is at 789 points and 746 rebounds for his career. He likes to put points on the board for the Rabbits and said he’s gotten more comfortable with the ball this season, but he prides himself on his rebounding most. His season-high in rebounds came in a home win over Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s on Jan. 27, a 21-point, 27-rebound game for him.

“The rebounding and helping the team get the ball [means the most],” Frericks said. “If we don’t have the ball, we can’t do what we do.”

Frericks said he’s worked hard to improve his rebounding over the years, especially once he got to the varsity level.

“I’d say I had to learn a little more [once on varsity],” Frericks said. “I went to a couple camps over the summer that helped with the bigs position, helped with position for rebounding and all that stuff.”

Frericks’ work in the paint and ability to outrebound the majority of his matchups earned him the nickname “Baby Shaq” by his teammates. Frericks may not have the endorsements Shaquille O’Neal has, but he has the full support of his teammates and gives it right back.

“To me it’s more about the team,” Frericks said. “Helping them, that’s the No. 1 thing, making sure the team wins, helping them win.”

The Rabbits are the No. 3 seed in the North Subsection of the Section 3A Boys Basketball Tournament and will take on sixth-seeded Minneota at 4 p.m. Saturday in Montevideo. When asked if he finishes a point or rebound shy of a double-double in that playoff game but the Rabbits win, Frericks had no gripes about it.

“My thoughts would be it’s great that we won the game, that’s all that matters, playoffs time,” he said.