Martin's game-winner helps Fremd past Buffalo Grove

Fremd senior Ryan Martin said his game-winning 3-pointer against host Buffalo Grove on Wednesday with :02 left will be right up there as one of his best plays in his career.

"No doubt, it was a big one," said Martin, who led Fremd with 15 points in the 51-48 decision.

The Class 4A regional semifinal win at Buffalo Grove sends the No. 10-seeded Vikings into a matchup against No. 3 seed Stevenson at 7 p.m. Friday at Buffalo Grove. The winner advances to the Lake Zurich sectional semifinals.

Fremd (16-11) almost let a 36-16 third quarter lead get away.

"We played a very good first half," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski. "We executed well both on offense and defense. I told the players at halftime that Buffalo Grove was going to make a run at them, and to be ready for it."

The Bison trailed at the end of the first quarter 22-7 and 32-16 at the halftime break.

"We had missed some inside shots early, and others that we just couldn't get to fall," said Buffalo Grove coach Keith Peterson. "Fremd started out the game well and executed. They played more zone this time than in the other two times (in Buffalo Grove wins) we played them. They also made it tough for (Mac) Camardo to get the ball inside."

Dean Ganas scored all of his 11 points in the first half for Fremd and Will Schmeling tallied 8 of his 10 points in the first half.

The Vikings shot 10-for-19 from the field while the Bison could make just 6 of 18.

Tom Trieb (7 points) started a 17-5 run with a basket that helped the Bison (17-10) get back into the game.

Camardo (14 points, 7 rebounds) scored 6 points in the quarter. Caleb Mayhorn, who led the Bison with 16 points, stole the ball at mid-court and, with time expiring, connected on a halfcourt 3 to make it 41-33.

Mayhorn tied it at 41 in the nip-and-tuck fourth quarter with another 3-pointer with 4:38 left.

Zach Fricke hit a 3 from the right corner to tie it again at 48 with :10 remaining. Moments earlier, Fricke connected in the lane to pull the Bison within 47-45.

Luke Seidel hit a free throw to give the Vikings a 48-45 lead.

The final play was left in Martin's hands.

"We had the play set up for Ryan to handle the ball," said Widlowski. "We had two other shooters in (Isaiah) Turner and Seidel set up on the wings. It was his decision to make."

"The play was for me to curl with the ball after getting the inbound pass," said Martin. "When I saw them sag off me at the top of the key I took the shot. This was such an emotional win. Both teams made some big shots. Even though we lost the big lead, we stuck together."

"When they made the comeback on us," said Widlowski, "we kept our composure. We played hard to the last second just like Buffalo Grove did."

Peterson was proud of his team's big run.

"We didn't give up," said Peterson. "The guys on the floor just kept grinding away."