Fremd's block party leads to share of West title
On the way to clinching at least a share of the Mid-Suburban West boys basketball crown, host Fremd threw a "block party" against Barrington on Friday night.
Fremd's front line batted away 8 shots, 4 by 6-foot-5 Charlie Rosenberg, in slipping past the pesky Broncos 51-41.
"Their size and athleticism erased some of their mistakes," said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker. "We had alot of things going against us. A hostile crowd, their physical height and their 17-1 record. I'll say one thing our kids played hard."
The Vikings (18-1, 7-0) earned at least a share of their first MSL division title since 1998 and seventh in their history after Conant (12-6, 4-3) won 53-36 over Schaumburg (10-8, 4-3).
Fremd, which can clinch the title outright with a win at Conant next Friday, used its defense to set the tone early by turning 7 Barrington (10-11, 2-5) turnovers into 6 first-quarter points.
"We were saved by our defense," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski. "Barrington played good defense and took us out of our rhythm."
Fremd never trailed after Zach Monaghan (16 points) popped in a 3-pointer to break a 7-7 tie with 3:15 left in the first quarter.
"Our offensive energy was a little down as a team," said Monaghan. "But, we were able to fight through it."
Fremd's interior defense led by Chris Klimek, Nick Pflederer, Jack Konopka and Rosenberg held Barrington to 14 points in the second and third quarters.
Leading 25-19 with 6:00 left in the third quarter, Fremd finished it with a 10-4 run. Rosenberg and Quinn Williams (11 points) each scored 4 points during the run.
Rosenberg, who scored 10 points and had 7 rebounds, put in a short shot with 6:15 left in the game for a 41-26 lead. Barrington could not recover.
"There was some hype this week that the game could be for the MSL (West) championship," said Rosenberg. "In the first half it was hard to buy a basket, but in the second half coach said let the game come to us."
Klimek added 10 pts, 9 rebounds and a block for Fremd after sitting out Wednesday's win over Larkin to rest a shoulder injury.
Ben Bartz led Barrington with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Bryan Wagner added 10 points.