Fremd's big third quarter sparks victory

One big quarter can decide any basketball game, and that's what happened Saturday night when Fremd hosted Barrington in Mid-Suburban West boys play.

The Vikings outscored the Broncos 18-6 in the third quarter to build a 20-point lead en route to a 57-42 victory in Palatine.

"I thought definitely the difference was the way we came out defensively for the first three minutes of the third quarter," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. "We came out with a lot more ball pressure and we converted that into baskets at the other end."

Fremd senior guard Dan Bruno scored a game-high 20 points - sinking four 3-pointers in the process. Bruno said the Vikings thought they could get open looks from beyond the arc when the Broncos shifted to a zone defense - which they did often.

"All week long we worked on driving and kicking (the ball out)," Bruno said. "They would kind of drop down and one or two people would be open for shots."

Bruno scored 7 of his points in the third quarter, but attributed the difference in that quarter to the defense.

"We got a lot of steals and we just played great defense," Bruno said.

Sophomore Zach Monaghan scored 13 points for Fremd (8-9, 4-2) and junior Chris Klimek added 9. Bruno, Klimek and Monaghan have been the offensive leaders for the Vikings during their rebound from an 0-7 start to the season.

"I think hopefully this would be a payoff for our tough early schedule," Widlowski said after his team's fifth straight win. "Most importantly, we've gotten better every game we've played, and hopefully we can continue with that."

Forward Mack Darrow led Barrington (3-16, 1-5) in scoring with 19 points. He also routinely dished out of double teams to open teammates cutting to the hoop.

"They were playing off other guys, so he became a passer," Barrington coach Marty Dello said. "He got other guys some easy shots."

Dello attributed the third quarter scoring margin to having to sit guard Daniel Evers because Evers had picked up his third foul late in the first half. Dello said with Evers on the bench, the defensive matchups were not ideal because of Fremd's size.