It’s a thriller as Fremd edges LZ

Whoever came up with the name of the Turkey Thriller Girls Basketball Tournament sure had the right idea.

There we plenty of thrilling moments in the five-team round-robin hosted by Fremd, Lake Zurich and Lakes high schools.

And Wednesday’s championship at Lake Zurich was hardly an exception.

Fans got to see the host team erase a 15-point deficit when senior Stephanie Schmid hit a 3-pointer with 7:39 left in the fourth quarter for a 44-44 tie.

But Fremd, which has shown great endurance in the final quarter throughout the tourney, answered with a 9-0 run en route to a 52-46 triumph.

The Vikings (5-0) made 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch — including 4-of-4 by junior guard Ashley McConnell (11 points) — to put away the hard-fought win.

Senior Jessi Wiedemann (22 points) hit 3 3-pointers in the second quarter to help spark the Vikes to a 40-26 halftime lead.

“We were confident we could get back on track (after Lake Zurich tied the game at 44),” said Vikings junior guard Bernie Williams, who was still sporting a black eye from her collision in the Cary-Grove game on Friday night.

Williams (7 points) had some key steals to help Fremd break the 44-44 tie. Her steal and layup put the Vikes up 48-44.

“We just knew we had to hold our composure,” added her classmate Marilyn Lortz, who contributed all 13 of her points in the first half.

Freshman Haley Gorecki added 9 points for Fremd.

Lake Zurich showed the ability to rally early in the game, too.

Fremd went ahead 14-8 on Williams’ steal and layup, but senior guard Cathryne Spear (14 points) converted 3 answered layups, including a nifty reverse, to tie the game at 14 with 2:05 left in the period.

Wiedemann broke the Bears’ streak when she scored on a rebound layup before Schmid drove the lane for a bank shot that made it 16-16 after one quarter.

But Fremd controlled the second quarter, outscoring Lake Zurich 24-10.

“Our goal is always to give up 40 or less points in game,” Spear said. “So when we gave up 40 at half, I don’t know what happened. Then we allowed just 4 in third quarter. We talked among ourselves before coach (Chris Bennett) got to us and we were like ‘Guys, we are so much better than this.’”

The Bears proved it in the second half.

“I tried to convince my kids at half that they had another run in them,” said Fremd coach Dave Yates. “And they did. I was very surprised at half (being up 40-26). I knew from the get-go they have a lot of seniors, they are tough and well-coached.”

Schmid finished with 18 points for Lake Zurich (4-1). Dori Darras added 11 followed by Katherine Anderson (7) and Maise Cox (6).

“Everyone was ready to go in the third quarter” Spear said of the Bears’ comeback. “Sometimes we intimidate ourselves. We are able to do so much more than we are doing sometimes.”

McConnell did a lot for the Vikings, too.

“That No. 21 (McConnell) is really good,” Spear added “She has some speed.”

“I think we have a lot of kids who can pass, dribble and shoot, and that makes it easier to get open shots,” Yates said. “To Lake Zurich’s credit, they came after us. I can’t thank Chris (Bennett) enough for putting this tournament together. We got to play some very good teams and play in a championship atmosphere right out of the box. We got pushed in three of the games so we got to learn a lot about ourselves.

Bennett felt the same way.

“We played harder in the second half,” he said. “I know our players were a little upset we couldn’t have had a little different outcome. But the main thing we’ll remember is that we played very well against a very good team and that will pay dividends when it comes time for conference.”