Hopkins, Fremd find the range against Warren
By the time Fremd junior Bryce Hopkins had dented the scoreboard on Friday night, his Vikings' teammates had already nailed six 3s.
Eventually, though, Hopkins had the 3-point shot of the night.
It came after his first one, well into the third quarter of this game at the Mundelein Thanksgiving Tournament. His first had knotted the score with Warren at 39-39. His second one put the Vikings up for good.
“I started out slowly,'' Hopkins admitted. “We shot a lot of 3s tonight. But on my second one, I took a step back and let it fly.”
Hopkins had all of his 9 points in the second half for Fremd (3-1). He finished with 2 of his team's 10 three-pointers as Fremd pulled away from Warren 62-50.
It was hard for Warren to stay with the Vikings early. Fremd senior Isaiah Turner landed 3 of those long-distance shots in the first quarter, and the Vikes led 23-16 after the first quarter.
“Bryce and Isaiah did a great job for us tonight,'' said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski. “But we have a whole new group this year. This was a good early season test for us with Warren.”
Fremd came out very hot from the floor, hitting 60 percent from the 3-point line and 70 percent from closer in.
“It was a combination of them shooting well,'' said Warren coach Jon Jasnoch. “In the fourth quarter, we didn't handle their pressure. We really didn't take care of the ball very well.”
Warren seems to have a standout 3-point shooter of its own.
Barak Diehl came off the bench last year, but this year he's front and center. The 6-foot sharpshooter nailed five 3s and led all scorers with 20 points. His first four shots were from long range, and his last one of the first half gave Warren a brief lead at 29-28.
Another Fremd senior, Luke Seidel, beat the halftime clock with yet another 3 and the Vikings were up 31-30 at the break.
“This was a good game for us,'' Hopkins said. “We had to overcome adversity.”
Jasnoch was also impressed with Fremd's defensive effort.
“They are not big,'' he said. “But they are very well coached, defensively.”
On Diehl's fourth longball, the Blue Devils (2-2) seemed to have taken control of the game and led 39-34 midway through the third quarter.
But then Fremd had the spurt from Hopkins and another buzzer-beating rebound bucket from Turner to regain the lead at 46-41 heading to the final quarter.
“I liked the way Hopkins took the ball to the basket in the fourth quarter,'' Widlowski said. “And Ryan Martin has been solid for us for three years.”
Martin was solid all right, with 17 points and 9 rebounds.
Warren point guard Branden Ellis checked in with 16 points. And yes, he, too, landed a 3. Turner and Seidel led the Vikings with three 3s apiece.