Frederking again hero for Geneva

With 7.9 seconds left in a crucial Western Suburban showdown at Kaneland, Geneva's Christian Frederking missed the front end of a 1-and-1, leaving his team down 38-37 with the conference lead on the line.

But this was nothing new to Frederking, who missed a late game free throw against DeKalb earlier in the season, but came back to make it up with the game-winning basket.

"We've been through this before, so I knew we still had a chance," Frederking said.

The Vikings' chance became opportunity when, with 6.1 showing on the clock, Frederking came up with a the rebound and raced down court until a foul sent him back to the line.

"Coach had just told us if we get the rebound to get the ball to one of our guards and either look for a shot or try to get fouled," Frederking said.

This time the senior guard sank both free throws to give the Vikings a 39-38 win, keeping them tied with Glenbard South at the top of the Western Sun Conference with a 10-3 record, and 19-6 overall.

"Our kids hit some tough shots at the end," Geneva coach Phil Ralston said. "I only wish they would have hit a few more earlier in the game."

The Vikings had what in this game passed for breathing room midway through the fourth quarter after Tyler Scofield hit a pair of free throws to put his team up 37-31.

That's when Christian Dillon and Dave Dudzinski went to work. The Kaneland big men combined to score the next 7 points, including a pair of free throws by Dudzinski that put the Knights on top with 15.8 left.

"We came back, and I'm not disappointed with our effort in the least," Kaneland coach Dennis Hansen said. "We executed the game plan, and did a lot of good things."

The loss broke a 5-game winning streak for the Knights (13-11, 5-8), but even in defeat Hansen was pleased with the growth his team has shown in the past several weeks.

"We just started coming together and improving as a team," Hansen said. "It really showed tonight in the way we fought against a quality team."

Part of Kaneland's recent success has been its ability to take care of the ball and play a patient style of offense that has led to opponents becoming frustrated and defenses breaking down.

Neither of those happened Friday night.

"Our team defense has been a strength," Ralston said. "That's what I think tonight's game came down to."

Defense dominated during a sluggish start. Both teams had some good looks, but the shots refused to drop for the Vikings, and Kaneland led 9-6 after one quarter.

But Geneva's offense came to life in the second quarter. Rob Tauscher hit a three and scored 8 points in the quarter as the Vikings took a 22-17 lead at halftime.

"I started finding the open shots in the second quarter," Tauscher said. "Once we got going the enthusiasm carried over to everyone on the team."

The game returned to form in the third quarter as the two teams combined to score 17 points and Kaneland trimmed the deficit to 30-26.