Loyola tips Fremd

Senior Katie Faught and her Chicago-area ranked Loyola Academy girls basketball team fought hard for Saturday's afternoon victory in Palatine.

Going up against an 8-1 Fremd team which had just won a Mid-Suburban League West game 15 hours earlier, the Ramblers found themselves down by 13 points with less than four minutes to go in the third quarter.

But back-to-back 3-pointers by senior Carrie Schoenberger and Faught ignited a 10-0 run to get the Ramblers (7-1) back in contention.

They eventually pulled out the victory when sophomore Anna Schueler (team-high 13 points) drove between defenders for a layup with 6.3 seconds left.

Fremd missed 2 shots in the final two seconds giving Loyola a 42-40 triumph in the hard-fought game.

“She (Schueler) is unbelievable for a sophomore,” said Faught, who will play for Loyola University next season. “She is not fazed by anything. She is so focused the whole game. I'm so proud of her. I can't say enough about her.”

Junior Jessi Wiedemann and sophomore Ashley McConnell had a lot to say about Fremd building its 28-15 lead with a 11-0 run to start the second half.

They combined for all 11 points with Wiedemann hitting a 3-pointer and 2 free throws.

“I was pleased with the start of the game and start of the third quarter,” said Fremd coach Dave Yates. “Their (Loyola) last game was Tuesday and it did seem like there were times we ran out of gas and they hit that extra gear to push ahead. But that's no excuse on our part. We should handle that.”

The Vikings handled things well at the free throw line, converting 13-of-16 while Loyola was 1-of-3.

McConnell made 8-of-10 at the line and finished with a game-high 17 points. Wiedemann and Jaimie Groot each had 8 points for the Vikes (8-2) while senior Bridget Kubis chipped in 5.

“We should have gotten more offensive boards,” said McConnell, who season-high is 23 points against Jacobs at the Dundee-Crown tourney. “They played good pressure defense and it made us pass more. That No. 12 (Faught) is real good player.”

Faught played only the first 9 minutes of the first half after picking up her second foul. She scored all 6 of her points on a pair of 3-pointers in the second half.

“We knew they had some shooters who were all threats,” said Faught, who averages a team-high 13 points. “So we really needed to defend them and help each other out. They're physical and as you saw there were a lot of charging calls on both teams. It was a scrappy game but we stuck together.”

Loyola's only loss is to New Trier.

Yates was pleased with his defense holding the Ramblers to 15 points in the first half.

“I thought Bridget and Ashley were tough on their perimeter players and everyone else helped out,” Yates said. “We just couldn't stop them for four of five possessions there in the third quarter. This was a good nonconference game for us. It's game like these that will only help to make us better.”

Ramblers coach Jeremy Schoenecker likes the resiliency he's seen so far from his club.

“We didn't quit the whole game,” he said. “Obviously we didn't shoot well at the start (6-6 tie after one quarter). But these kids just keep finding a way to win because of the senior leadership we have.

“Fremd's No. 44 (Wiedemann) is 6-foot-1 but she plays outside and that's a tough cover for us. We let her loose for some 3s. . For us to struggle like we did in the first half (trailed 17-15) and then pick it up in the second, that's a big win.”