Frederking saves day for Geneva in win over DeKalb
Tied with DeKalb and 11 seconds remaining Friday night in Geneva, nobody wanted to take the last shot more than Vikings senior Christian Frederking.
After missing four straight free throws a minute earlier, Frederking hoped for one more chance. He got it, going coast-to-coast for a layup with 3.5 seconds remaining that gave Geneva a 42-40 victory.
"To miss four free throws down the stretch was tough," Frederking said. "I was a little upset. You like to shake stuff like that off right away but it got to me a little. I just wanted to be able to redeem myself and I got the chance."
Frederking's heroics saved Geneva from what would have been a devastating final 17 seconds. The Vikings led 40-34 only to watch Darius McNeal and Grant Olsen drain 3s, sandwiched between a Geneva turnover, to suddenly tie the game at 40 in a span of 6 seconds.
Geneva called timeout and got the ball to Frederking, who dribbled from one end line to the other without any resistance. A pick from Jeremy D'Amico at the top of the key freed Frederking into the lane.
"Two very heads-up plays," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said of D'Amico's screen and Frederking's drive. "That was the difference in the game. The guy that could have been the villain turned out to be the hero."
The Barbs (12-8, 7-3) didn't have 6-foot-10 Jordan Threloff on the court for the final sequence, which could have made a difference with Frederking driving to the basket. Threloff blocked 4 shots and grabbed 8 rebounds.
After Frederking's basket, Matt Larson launched a half-court that came close but bounced off the rim.
"I'm going to take responsibly because I think Threloff should have been in there but that was the group that got us back and that was the group that was playing such great defense," DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman said.
Threloff left the game with 4:17 left after a hard foul while going up for a shot, a foul that wound up breaking his nose. He returned but didn't score again.
Threloff had been the Barbs' only offense in the first half, scoring 9 of their 11 points, as Geneva built a 19-11 halftime advantage. DeKalb never led, tying the game at 2, 4, 22, 33 and 40.
"We weren't hitting our shots today and we didn't have a good first half," said Threloff. "That's why we didn't win. We needed to play like that (the second half) the entire game."
D'Amico led Geneva with 13 points and 9 rebounds. Frederking added 10 points and Tyler Scofield scored 8. Sean Grady made three key steals in the fourth quarter.
Geneva's win coupled with Batavia beating Glenbard South pulled the Vikings (17-5, 8-3) within a game of the conference-leading Raiders (14-5, 9-2). DeKalb, who plays Glenbard South next Friday, and Batavia also are alive with 7-3 conference records.