Fremd pulls surprise on Cary-Grove
Cary-Grove girls basketball coach Rod Saffert just needed to look at the turnover column on the stat sheet to see why his Trojans lost Monday night.
Committing 27 turnovers, the Trojans dropped a 45-41 decision to Fremd in action at the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving Tournament in a game played at Lake Zurich.
"They were the most aggressive team we have played this season," said Saffert of Fremd. "I don't mind the hustle or physical turnovers, but we had too many unforced turnovers off mental mistakes. Sometimes you learn more from a loss. St Viator was a very good team, Fremd played well tonight and I am sure Lake Zurich will test us (Tuesday) night."
Fremd (4-0) won the game at the free throw line, connecting on 13 of 14 from the line in the final 3:39 of the game. The Vikings' final 13 points came from the charity stripe. Ashley McConnell converted 7 of 8 and Megan Gray made all 6 of her free throws as Fremd held on for a 4-point win.
"We have a number of kids who can make big free throws down the stretch," said Fremd coach Dave Yates. "Megan and Ashley were certainly two kids we wanted at the line. They stepped up and made them down the stretch. This is a big win against a very good Cary-Grove team. I am very proud of the girls."
The Trojans (3-1) seemed to be in control of the game midway through the third quarter. Cary-Grove broke an 18-18 tie with 6 straight points. Claire Jakubicek scored a pair of baskets while Olivia Jakubicek converted a putback as the Trojans led 24-18 with 4:53 left.
After a timeout by Yates, the Vikes responded with a 9-0 run to turn a 6-point deficit into a 3-point advantage. A layup along with a 3-pointer by McConnell and 2 putbacks from Gray helped Fremd take a 27-24 lead with 2:22 remaining in the third quarter.
"During the timeout we told the kids to relax and they responded," said Yates. "That was a crucial part of the game. If Cary-Grove goes up 10 or 12 the game is over."
Claire Jakubicek paced the Trojans with 12 while Meg Straumann netted 10 including a pair of 3-pointers. Jessi Wiedemann led the Vikings with 14. McConnell scored 13 and Gray had 12 with 10 rebounds.
Hononegah 69, South Elgin 48: Becca Smith scored 18 points and Amanda Behles added 10 but South Elgin (1-3) fell to powerful Hononegah in the Dundee-Crown tournament.
Bree Edwards, an all-state transfer from Rockford Boylan, led Hononegah with 29 points, all in the first three quarters. Andriella Patterson added 9 points for the Storm.
Marengo 46, Elgin 17: Briana Hamilton had 11 points to lead Elgin (0-4) in this loss at the Burlington Central tournament.
Streamwood 58, Jacobs 24: The Sabres moved to 3-0 for the season behind 14 points from Amanda Patterson, 11 from Michelle Tomczak and 10 from Emma Schmidt, who now stands at 950 points for her career. Lauren Grady had 9 points to lead Jacobs (0-4).
Huntley 53, West Aurora 37: The Red Raiders made it two straight in the WarHawk tournament. Rachel Chapius led Huntley with 13 points and Brianna Roeser added 11.
Football
The IHSA did not see the double vision of the proponents of expanding the football playoff field.
The IHSA Legislative Commission rejected a proposal to double the field of teams qualifying for the football playoffs from 256 to 512 teams at its Monday meeting. There were 13 proposals to change the IHSA constitution and bylaws that were placed on its annual referendum ballot.
The expanded playoff proposal would have reduced the regular season to eight games. Week 9 would have been a playoff game for all but approximately 30 teams which wouldn't make the field.
One of the reasons for the proposal was to alleviate nonconference scheduling problems faced by some leagues. Football is also the only sport where all teams aren't eligible for postseason participation.
The last expansion to the football playoffs occurred before the 2001 season. The number of teams increased by 64 and the number of classes jumped from six to eight.
• John Radtke and Marty
Maciaszek contributed.