Fremd tough enough vs. Barrington

Fremd's girls basketball players knew they were going to have a tough game against Barrington before stepping foot on the floor Friday night; after all, Vikings coach Dave Yates told them so.

A tough game the Vikings received, and a tough game they won.

Fremd used balanced offense and team defense to come away with a rugged 47-36 Mid-Suburban West win on its home court.

"I was pleased at how our kids came out ready to play," Yates said. "We've been really working on challenging our kids to come out ready to play every night."

While Fremd built a 21-15 halftime lead, it was the start of the second half that saw the Vikings falter slightly.

Barrington came back from the intermission playing a 2-3 zone and went on a 7-0 run to take a 22-21 lead. From there, Fremd gathered itself and took back control of the game.

"They are a good team, and we expected them to come out and come after us," Yates said. "What did we do better after they made their run? We made some shots. We got good looks early in that quarter; they just weren't going down."

Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro said when Fremd was able to seize back control, the Fillies had some poor offensive possessions that hindered them from building on their momentum.

Barreiro noted that according to her shot chart, the Fillies (5-3, 1-1) missed 13 shots from within 5 feet of the basket.

"It's very difficult to beat a good team on their floor when we are shooting like that," Barreiro said. "I'm disappointed with our kids tonight from that respect.

"Fremd played a good, hard game. It's not to take anything away from them, but I think we are better than we showed tonight."

The Vikings (6-3, 2-0) also used great defense to hold Barrington guard Abby Kirchoff to 7 points, and contain forward Emily Harris for most of the night - Harris scored 10 of her game-high 14 points in the fourth quarter.

"That's just team defense," said Fremd senior guard Taylor Glassmann (13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists). "We were on the help line, and everybody is responsible for everyone's player. If one girl gets beat, you know your back line is going to be there."

The Vikings also received solid performances from senior Gianna Abruzzo (8 points, 4 rebounds), freshman Ashley McConnell (8 points), junior Bridget Kubis (7 points), and sophomore Megan Hubbard (4 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals).