Hoffman Estates, Fremd certainly aren't strangers

Fremd and Hoffman Estates got to know each other better than most boys basketball teams last year.

And Hoffman found out how difficult it is to beat another team four times in one year. It won the first three matchups in the Mid-Suburban West and Elgin Holiday Tournament third-place game but Fremd won the matchup that meant the most in the Class 4A regional semifinal.

That scenario won't occur again since Hoffman (9-6, 1-3) and Fremd (14-1, 4-0) didn't meet in tournaments at Crystal Lake Central and Elgin. They'll face off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Hoffman.

"We know it will be a tough game but we'll be ready," said Hoffman senior guard Jimmy Fabbrini.

With 6-foot-7 Lance Vesper, 6-4 Colin Conway and 6-3 John Bialek, Hoffman is one of the few teams which can match up with Fremd's size of 6-6 Nick Pflederer, 6-5 Charlie Rosenberg and 6-3 Chris Klimek.

The number the Hawks would like to match or even decrease is their 13 turnovers in Tuesday's 53-39 win at Streamwood.

"I thought we did well," Fabbrini said. "Usually we have a lot, and at the beginning of the year we had a lot, and that's what usually hurts us."

Hoffman also hopes it can continue to get an offensive boost from senior Brandon Fischer, who scored 9 points off the bench Tuesday. Fischer was hampered by back trouble early in the season.

"The nice thing he did (Tuesday) is he took it to the rim," said Hoffman coach Bill Wandro. "He has to keep working on that."

Hanging tough in tough weekend: Barrington saw its six-game winning streak end with 2 tough losses on the scoreboard and another on the court to leading scorer and captain Bryan Wegner.

Wegner went out with a sprained ankle in the fourth quarter of Friday's 57-56 overtime loss to Conant on Taylor Peterson's last-second tip-in and didn't play in a 57-54 loss Saturday to Huntley. On Wednesday night, Barrington coach Bryan Tucker didn't know if Wegner would be able to play Saturday against Schaumburg.

"He hasn't practiced yet (through Wednesday) and this point we have to be cautious," Tucker said. "He's a tough kid and wants to play and if he can he'll give it a go."

The biggest disappointment of Saturday's loss was falling into a 9-point halftime hole at Huntley. But the positive for Tucker was the way the Broncos battled back.

"Eventually we did compete and it was a valuable lesson," Tucker said, "that you can't let those things affect you on the court and you have to play four quarters."

Sophomore John Schneider stepped up in Wegner's absence to score a career-high 17 points.

The 6-foot-6 Schneider averaged 4 points in the first eight games but is at 9.9 in his last nine games.

"He's feeling more comfortable and playing with more confidence and being more aggressive," Tucker said. "You saw early on he was kind of feeling his way a little but now he's definitely being aggressive."

Turning point for Warriors? The odds of Maine West making an extended run after Monday's 52-51 win over Rolling Meadows are a bit long with games with Central Suburban North powers Deerfield and Glenbrook North the next two Thursdays.

But the Warriors hope their comeback for only their second win in 11 games is a good sign going into tonight's trip to Maine East.

"This was huge for us," said Maine West senior and leading scorer Alex Samuelson. "We needed to get this win to bring ourselves back up on our feet.

"Further down the road it will help us so much more and bring us much more confidence."

Maine West coach Erik McNeill hopes the effort that went into Monday's win isn't forgotten for a team where junior Odera Eneogwe and sophomore Conor Hart are the second- and third-leading scorers.

"Hopefully we'll take a step forward from this," McNeill said. "There have been growing pains and I think we've learned a lot so far up to this point.

"We show flashes but we're so inconsistent."

CSL North streak ends: A 56-52 win by Deerfield and Duje Dukan on Thursday night ended the 21-game Central Suburban North winning streak of Glenbrook North.

Triple play: The 13th annual High School Hoops Showdown is Saturday, Jan. 23 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates. The triple-header features Glenbard East vs. Jacobs at 4:30 p.m., Aurora Central Catholic vs. Marmion at 6:30 p.m. and Neuqua Valley vs. West Aurora at 8:30 p.m.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students 18 and under and are available at the Sears Centre box office, by calling (312) 559-1212 or online at searscentre.com.

Around the state: Quincy's 79-48 loss to Neuqua Valley was its worst since it fell 80-49 to Peoria Central in 1991 - O'Fallon is emerging as the top Illinois team in the St. Louis area at 14-1 with a win over previously unbeaten Edwardsville - Peoria Richwoods and defending 3A state champion Champaign Centennial meet Jan. 23. Centennial didn't lose in 2009 calendar year but Richwoods was knocked off by Springfield High last week - Springfield's only loss in its last 13 games was in overtime to Centennial.

Did you know? Jerry Wainwright, who was fired Monday as DePaul's head coach, led Highland Park to the AA supersectional in 1982. The Giants lost to Arlington at Northwestern.

Wainwright was also an assistant to legendary head coach Norm Goodman at East Leyden.