Big finish helps Fremd past Cary-Grove
For the second time in two days, Fremd's girls basketball team found itself playing a Daily Herald Top 20 team.
And just like its first win over No. 16 Rolling Meadows, the No. 5 Vikings were in a battle for three quarters with No. 7 Cary-Grove on Friday night before finding some breathing room in the final period.
The defending Mid-Suburban League champs led by 4 after 24 minutes, and stretched the lead to 13 when Jessi Wiedemann (17 points) tossed home a 3-pointer with 2:28 left.
Cary-Grove kept battling to the wire before Fremd prevailed 51-42 to improve to 2-0 in the Lake Zurich-Fremd Thanksgiving Turkey Thriller.
"Cary-Grove played very hard," said Fremd coach Dave Yates. "They go after it. For as many inexperienced players as they have, they did a nice job battling."
One of Fremd's inexperienced players provided a big boost midway through the third quarter.
Junior Olivia Jakubicek gave Cary-Grove a 30-28 lead before Vikes sophomore Shannon Wittel rebounded her own miss and hit an 8-footer in the lane to tie the game and spark a 7-0 run by the Vikes.
After Wiedemann hit a free throw for a 31-30 lead, Wittel got the lead to 33-30 when she hit a rebound bank shot with 1:35 left in the quarter.
Wiedemann then made a nifty circle drive through the lane for a layup and 35-30 advantage.
"Shannon gave us a nice lift," Yates said. "She got some big offensive rebounds. We need someone to give us a lift at that point and she did."
As usual, junior guard Ashley McConnell picked the Vikes up often, too, scoring a game-high 18 points, including a clutch steal and layup which put her team in front 44-36 with 4:10 left in the game.
"Shannon (Wittel) brought a lot of energy for us," McConnell said. "She really turned the game for us with those two big put backs. We just needed to get some stops on defense. These were definitely two tough wins over two good teams."
Freshman Haley Gorecki made her presence felt again, scoring 9 points, including a step-back jumper in the second quarter which gave Fremd a 22-16 lead.
Cary-Grove battled back and trailed only 22-20 at the break when Joslyn Nicholson hit a 16-footer near the free throw line with 41 seconds left.
"Fremd is an excellent team," said Trojans coach Rod Saffert, whose team was playing it first game. "They played tough and we figured out we couldn't leave Wiedemann open (3 3-pointers). We also let them get to the free throw line too many times (Fremd was 16-of-35)."
Jakubicek led Cary-Grove with 12 points, followed by Nicholson (11) and freshman Katie Barker (8).
"Olivia did her thing, and she will," Saffert said about the 5-10 junior. "From time to time, we used her at the point. It's no secret we struggled getting the offense started. But it's all correctable things.
"Katie Barker came off the bench and showed us she is a tough little player. I thought we played excellent for three quarters."
Fremd guard Bernie Williams showed her toughness.
The junior guard returned to the floor in the final quarter after suffering a bump near her eyebrow where she got hit while battling for a loose ball.
"It was nice to get here back in there," Yates said of his scrappy junior. "We hung in there with some foul trouble (Gorecki picked up No. 4 early in the fourth quarter) and McConnell got her third with 2:20 left in the third). I'm happy we were able to win a game where were not playing our best."