High five for Fremd

Fremd got hit with a low-five to start Friday’s Mid-Suburban West boys basketball game at Hoffman Estates.

But that quick deficit sparked the Vikings. When it was over, there were plenty of high fives as they won their fifth straight game 59-51.

“That threw us off guard a little bit but then we threw on the defensive engine,” said Fremd senior guard Matt Wisniewski of the 5-0 deficit after just 61 seconds.

“That got us back in the game,” said Fremd senior Adam Gorecki. “We don’t want to be in that situation. We want to come out and throw the first punch.”

The 6-foot-6 Gorecki had 15 points and 8 rebounds as Fremd (8-2, 2-1) produced its largest offensive punch of the season. Sophomore Riley Glassman led all scorers with 19 points and his 9 points in the final 5:23 came on 12 free-throw attempts after Hoffman (3-5, 0-3) got within 46-40.

“As a group we’ve really grown up over the last two weeks and taken some big strides,” Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said of his team with five new starters.

And the Vikings were without senior scoring leader Garrett Peters for the second straight game with a foot injury. Widlowski said Peters should be ready to return in the Wheeling tournament opener Dec. 27 against Niles North.

And they are succeeding even though they don’t have big scoring threats of the last couple of years such as Zach Monaghan or Chris Klimek.

“Especially without Garrett, we have to play more as a team,” Gorecki said. “Having five guys on the court at all times making an impact defensively and offensively really helps.”

Sean Benka had 8 points and 4 assists and Nate Serviss had 6 points and 5 rebounds as Fremd shot 48.7 percent (18-for-37) from the field. Jack Nelson had 5 points and Ben Carlson had 7 rebounds off the bench.

Wisniewski and Mitch Dinterman combined to limit Austin Terry (15 points on 4-for-12 shooting), who missed eight minutes of the first half with foul trouble, to 6 points the first three quarters.

“We turned a lot of our defensive energy to the offensive end,” Wisniewski said of turning 22 turnovers into 23 points.

Hoffman cut a 43-29 deficit to 6 points with the ball with 5:44 left. But a turnover led to Fremd hitting 13 of its last 16 free throws after missing 10 of its first 20.

Junior Darion Brown added 10 points for Hoffman.

“We’re frustrated with ourselves and it’s more psychological than physical,” said Hoffman coach Luke Yanule. “We practice well and practice hard but when the lights come on we have momentary lapses of reason.”