Fremd opens up, tops RM
Even though the Rolling Meadows girls basketball team had already played a game and Fremd had not, Vikings standout Jessi Wiedemann did not see it as a disadvantage.
“It actually gave us a chance to see them play on Monday night (in a double overtime win over Stevenson), whereas they could not see us,” said the 6-foot-1 Valparaiso-bound senior guard.
What the fans saw on Wednesday night was a lot of fastbreaking basketball in the opening-round game of the Lake Zurich-Fremd Thanksgiving Turkey Thriller Tournament.
And there were indeed some thrilling plays all night before the Vikings finally thrilled their fans after a back-and-forth three quarters of action.
Leading by 1 point, Fremd started the final eight minutes on a 17-6 run to put away a 67-55 triumph.
“We knew if we kept the game close, we could pull through,” said Wiedemann, who scored 19 points (with 3 3-pointers), second only on her team to junior guard Ashley McConnell’s game-high 24 (2 3-pointers). “We have a lot of good players so we knew someone would step up, like Ashley did.”
A 3-point-play by McConnell started Fremd on a 9-2 run with 6:55 left in the final period.
With 5:02 left, junior Marilyn Lortz (9 points) took a nice pass from Wiedemann and hit a hanging bank shot before completing a 3-point play that put Fremd ahead 54-46.
Moments later, Wiedemann made a steal in the Meadows’ free throw lane, then raced up court and got the assist on freshman Haley Gorecki’s layup.
Gorecki (8 points) was one of many Vikings getting their first quality minutes in a Vikings varsity uniform.
“Except for Jessi and Ashley, it was every other girl’s first rodeo, pretty much,” said Fremd coach Dave Yates, who graduated three starters from last year’s Mid-Suburban League championship team.
“We had to get used to how fast they (Meadows) were playing and get over the nerves. We knew we were in for a tough game. Todd (Hatfield, Rolling Meadows’ coach) does a great job and we know they are one of the best teams in the MSL East.”
Senior guard Ann Marie Lynch did a great job for Meadows, scoring a career-high 19 points, including some nifty coast-to-coast layups that even caught the eye of the Vikings.
“She played very well,” Wiedemann said. “She likes to drive a lot and that gave us trouble because we didn’t have good help-side defense.”
Lynch’s reverse layup with 3: l4 left in the third and a free throw by sophomore Alexis Glasgow (10 points) gave Meadows a 40-37 lead.
Sophomore Jackie Kemph (13 points) made a running scoop layup to provide Meadows a 42-39 before Fremd got the lead for good.
A driving 6-footer by McConnell and a 6-footer by junior guard Bernie Williams (8 points) off an assist from McConnell made it 43-42 going into the final quarter.
“Their fastbreak really hurt us at the end,” said Lynch, a Marquette soccer recruit. “Our fastbreak worked in our favor in the first half, but they really pushed the ball up the court on us in the second half.”
Neither team led by more than 3 points in the first half.
“Fremd did a good job with its zone defense,” Hatfield said. “We went out and acted like we’d never seen a zone before. We just made some careless mistakes with the ball at the end.
“Ann Marie played four good quarters. Unfortunately, she was our only player who did. Amanda Gunn (7 points) had some good stretches but she had some foul trouble. Jackie Kemph did a good job responding in the second half.”
Hatfield hopes the Mustangs (1-1) will get another chance to play Fremd.
“We want to see them again,” he said. “We understand what that means (Meadows would have to win the MSL East and Fremd the West). We won this game against them last year here. They got us this time. Dave is a phenomenal coach and it’s a great program.”
Proviso West 55, Conant 31: Senior forward Natalie Kutrumanes scored 9 points for Conant in its season opener in Hoffman Estates. Senior guard Ashley Bartuch added 5 points for the Cougars, who kick off play on Friday in the York tourney against the host Dukes at 7:30 p.m.