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Fremd (20-0) wins an OT thriller at Evanston

Fremd’s 54-51 nonconference overtime win at Evanston on Saturday night had more thrills and chills than a carnival horror house.

“This game shows that we can hang with good teams,” said Fremd senior Riley Glassmann. “We’re no fake 20-0 team.

“Everyone stepped up tonight. We really have grown as a team and a family this year. On the court we did what we had to do to win it.”

The 16-8 Wildkits helped out the Vikings in the last minute of regulation.

Evanston led 45-41 with :48 left on a basket by Marcus Johnson (12 points, 6 rebounds) after an assist from Elijah Henry.

Will Jones missed a one-and-bonus with :35 left for Evamston.

Glassmann (20 points) hit the second of a two-shot foul to pull the Vikings to within 45-42 with :26 left. Evanston’s Micquel Roseman missed his free throw a second later, with Xavier Williams pulling down the rebound.

Fremd called a time out with :10 left. All five Vikings touched the ball during the inbounds play before Williams drilled a 3-pointer as time expired to tie the game at 45.

“When we needed to get a big shot, we got it,” said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski.

Matt Ochoa broke the tie early in the overtime with a basket. Glassmann’s basket off of the glass and 2 more free throws by Ochoa (11 points) gave Fremd a 51-48 lead.

Johnson hit a 3 pointer for the Wildkits, but Williams countered with a basket for a 53-48 lead with :34 left.

Jackson Mihevic connected for a 3-pointer — Evanston ninth of the game — to make the score 53-51 with :18 left.

Ben Carlson hit the first of a two-shot foul for the 54-51 lead with 16 ticks left.

Fremd’s defense blanketed Evanston’s offense, and with :01 left Jones was off target on his attempt to tie it up.

“This was a fun game to win,” said Ochoa. “We dug ourselves a little hole near the end of the game. But we trust each other and we pulled together to tie the game. Xavier came up huge with his shot to tie the game. (Jalen) Roundy hit that big 3-point shot at the end of the third quarter to give us the lead (31-30), and that gave us some momentum for the fourth quarter. When we needed it we picked it up on defense.”

Fremd extended its best-ever start to a sterling 20-0.

“This was just a very exciting Saturday night nonconference win against a good team,” said Widlowski. “Everyone played well and we did a very good job executing down the stretch. We just take each game as they come. We’re pleased to get the win.”

Fremd shot 50 percent from the field (20-for-40) with only 6 turnovers. Evanston made 16 of its 42 shots and committed 12 turnovers.

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