Monaghan's shot gives Fremd a happy ending

Fremd was not going to be very happy if it went into Thanksgiving with more losses than it had all of last season.

But that was the predicament the Vikings faced as they trailed Libertyville in the final seconds Wednesday night at Fenton's 25th annual Chuck Mitchell Thanksgiving boys basketball tournament.

Thanks to Zach Monaghan's tough, off-balance 19-footer with two seconds left, Fremd finally entered the win column 68-67 in the third and final round of pool play in Bensenville.

"It was good to get the first one out of the way, that's for sure," Monaghan said after he exhaled in relief after leaving the locker room.

Monaghan scored 6 of his team-high 25 points in the final 1:19 for the Vikings (1-2), who were 24-2 last year. A layup by Ryan Barth (28 points on 11-for-24 shooting) on a backdoor feed by Landon Eyre put Libertyville (1-2) up 67-66 with 23 seconds left.

After a Libertyville timeout, Fremd drew up a play with Quinton Brown looking for Monaghan on a backcut. When it was taken away, Monaghan popped out, took a feed from Brown and connected just inside the 3-point line.

"I was trying to draw a foul just in case, but I have confidence when I shoot the ball," Monaghan said of knowing the shot was on the mark.

"We did everything we could do," said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil. "We tried to deny him the ball but he was able to get it back and hit a tough shot at the end with guys draped all over him."

Libertyville had a last chance with 1.6 seconds left but Ellis Mathews' off-balance 3 at the buzzer fell short.

Libertyville turned a 31-20 deficit 6:58 before halftime into a 58-53 lead with 6:32 left. But Fremd rallied as senior Jim Scharfe (12 points) helped slow Barth after he scored 26 points the first three quarters.

"I told the kids what's most important is we played better," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski. "Whether the ball goes in at the end there or not, we still played better tonight."