Fremd steps up to stun Schaumburg

To some, Fremd's 62-52 boys basketball win over Schaumburg is a surprise.

Not to Fremd. The Vikings are getting on a roll, having won five of their last seven, including Friday night's stunner at Schaumburg in the Mid-Suburban West.

"We've been playing a lot better defense," high-scorer Dan Bruno (24 points) said of one of the keys to Fremd's (5-9, 2-2) recent spurt. They did it again Friday night.

Focusing on Schaumburg sharpshooters Cully Payne (22.9 ppg) and Justin Swiercz (10.7), the Vikes continually switched defenses. From a triangle-and-2 to a box-and-1 to a straight man-to-man, they constantly had pressure on Schaumburg's noted outside shooters.

Payne finished with 13, but just 1-of-7 from 3-point range, and Swiercz had just one bucket all night.

Chris Klimek and Will Reising made sure the Saxons usually got just one look per trip as well.

Meanwhile, at the other end, the Vikings were equally efficient. With Bruno running the show, the Vikings shot 20-of-36 from the floor and generally got good looks, from the 9-0 lead they grabbed at the outset to the 6-point fourth-quarter run that clinched it on backdoor layups by sophomore Zach Monaghan (16 points) and Klimek (14) to Bruno's steady free throw shooting.

"I was very pleased with our attitude," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski. "We've been making strides. Our kids were prepared for tonight's game," and that included everyone off the bench, such as Jamieson Gray, Tim Kubis and Quinton Brown, all of whom dogged Payne.

"Jamieson Gray and Tim Kubis gave us a big defensive boost," said Widlowski.

"Everyone stepped up tonight," said Bruno.

Well, not everyone. "They outplayed us," said Schaumburg (14-2, 3-1) coach Bob Williams, who doesn't often have to say something like that. "They played more fundamentally than we did. They understood the concept that with work, comes the results," a concept Schaumburg will get right back to in its next practice.

Despite being outrebounded and shooting such a poor percentage, the Saxons were still in the game most of the way, leading by 2 at the half thanks to a spark off the bench from Joe Infusino (13 points) and his long-range bombing and Payne's patience to get involved in the offense.

The Saxons were within 53-50 in the fourth after a pair of Swiercz free throws.

But even then, Williams didn't feel comfortable. "Our mentality wasn't right," he said. "We need to adjust our mentality."

Fremd, meanwhile, is in the process of adjusting its deceptive record.

"We've just got to come out and play hard as long as we can," said Bruno.