Defense does it for Fremd

Fremd seems to be figuring out what kind of basketball team it is, and the Vikings' identity starts with defense.

Fremd used a second straight night of tight, physical defense to win its third straight game, defeating Auburn 46-38 on Tuesday at the Elgin Holiday Tournament.

"Our defense has been much more solid for the last two weeks," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said.

One of the keys to the Vikings' defense effort was stopping Auburn's 6-foot-7 center, Eddie Bowling. Fremd's Chris Klimek and Will Reising could be seen double-teaming Bowling every time he touched the ball in the post.

"Our players did a real nice job of executing the double team in the post and not giving (Bowling) real good looks," Widlowski said.

Bowling scored just 4 points for the Knights.

"We've been playing a lot better on defense since our pretty shaky start," Klimek said.

Klimek had a solid game on the offensive end as well, contributing 12 points. Sophomore Zack Monaghan had 8 points off the bench, and Reising scored 6.

"I think we did a good job of working the ball," Klimek said. "Everyone got some touches and everyone scored some points."

Senior guard Dan Bruno had a game-high 15 points for Fremd, including a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

"We shoot a lot of free throws in practice, so it's just repetition," Bruno said. "So it's just automatic now."

Widlowski said it is always one of Fremd's goals to come away with a trophy from the Elgin Tournament. The win over Auburn assures theVikings of a top-four finish, and the accompanying trophy.

"It feels really good," Klimek said. "Especially since our start (to the season) was really, really shaky. The morale was down. Now, everyone is playing together and bringing home a trophy is huge."

The last time Fremd finished in the top four at the tournament was in 2003, when the Vikings took third place.