Lortz sets perfect tone for Fremd
Two months ago, Marilyn Lortz was setting the Fremd girls volleyball team to a 26-win season.
Monday afternoon, she was setting the tone in the first quarter for Fremd’s girls basketball team in a 67-36 opening-round victory in the 29th annual Charger Classic Christmas Tournament at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville.
Fremd (11-1) advanced to today’s 3:30 p.m. quarterfinal against Rockton Hononegah.
Lortz, a 5-foot-10 junior forward, scored the Vikings’ first bucket on a fastbreak layup less than 30 seconds into the game.
The Vikings went on to lead 15-0 after the first period, with Lortz adding a 16-footer from the baseline and another fastbreak layup.
Sophomore guard Ashley McConnell had 7 of the other first-quarter points and Sarah Macius (8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) hit a 15-footer for the 15-point cushion with 1:16 left.
“We’ve been practicing to come out strong because that’s been a weakness of ours,” said Lortz, who also had 4 rebounds with her 6 points. “And we were definitely boxing out well this game, which made a big difference.”
The Vikes held Johnsburg (3-9) scoreless until junior Kallie DiTusa’s rebound bank shot with 5:26 left in the second quarter.
That came after Fremd had built a 20-0 advantage, thanks to McConnell’s 3-pointer.
DiTusa had the Skyhawks’ only other bucket in the half and they trailed 28-4 at intermission.
“We came out and passed the ball very well,” said Fremd coach Dave Yates. “I think we took them out of the things they wanted to run. It was nice to see us take control of a game early.”
Valparaiso-bound senior Jessi Wiedemann didn’t get her first points until 2:27 was left in the first half but she finished as the Vikes’ top scorer with 18 points, tossing in 14 in the third quarter when she hit four 3-pointers.
“Our team is very diverse,” said Wiedemann, who had 4 rebounds and 2 assists. “We have a lot of people who can step up and contribute at different times.”
McConnell finished with 14 points, 5 assists and 2 steals while freshman Haley Gorecki chipped in 7 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Shannon Wittel (3 rebounds) added 6 points for the Vikes and teammate Sydney Sek (3 rebounds) scored all 6 of her points in the fourth quarter.
“We had good balance,” Yates added. “Like I’ve said before, all these girls are so unselfish.
“The one thing I thought we did really well was boxing out. Every time a shot went up, we had a body on someone. We had some great rebounding (27 total) and those were the things we wanted to do.”
Wiedemann hit a 3-pointer to start the second half, giving Fremd a 31-4 lead.
Johnsburg then scored 14 of the next 20 points and trailed 39-20 with 2:20 left in the third quarter.
Fremd proceeded on a 10-4 run, as Gorecki closed out the period with a 3-point play.
“I told the girls at half our goal was to win the first four minutes of the third quarter,” said Johnsburg coach Brad Frey. “So I was really proud of how they came out and played.
“Fremd is a really, really really good team. So we learned a lot from playing them.”
DiTusa and senior Stephanie Cherwin led Johnsburg with 9 points apiece.
“Fremd is big, aggressive and they shoot the lights out,” Frey said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s guards, forwards or centers. They can all shoot. I was just glad our girls showed heart and came back in the second half.”
“They made a run on us in the second half,” Yates said “But then Jessi (Wiedemann) pretty much answered them shot for shot.”