Fremd continues MSL West streak

Fremd looked as if it was going to make its Mid-Suburban West girls basketball finale a senior-night joy ride.

Schaumburg didn't run away and hide as it recovered to cut a 17-point deficit to 2 points early in the fourth quarter.

But the Vikings went on a 13-point tear and extended their run of MSL West victories to 25 by a 49-36 final Friday night in Palatine.

"We definitely wanted to go undefeated," Fremd senior Jessi Wiedemann said after scoring 13 of her 17 points and hitting four of five 3-pointers in the second half. "It's an expectation now that we want to hold for the program and keep it going."

Fremd (21-4, 10-0), which tries to defend its MSL title when it hosts Rolling Meadows on Wednesday, tore out to 15-1 and 20-3 leads as freshman Haley Gorecki (14 points, 11 rebounds) scored 10 points.

"It was a great start," said Fremd coach Dave Yates. "(Senior Sarah) Macius and (senior Tiffany) McKenzie made their first starts and came out and got us a nice lead.

"I think the beginning was a little too easy. They're a good team, obviously they picked up their level of play and we got stuck coasting a little bit in the second quarter."

Schaumburg (13-13, 6-4) missed its first 12 shots but abandoned its man-to-man defense for a 2-3 zone it had used sparingly. A 3 by Ashley McConnell, who also played a big role defensively, put Fremd up 34-20 with 3:03 left in the third.

But the Saxons answered with a 14-2 blitz as sophomore Madison Laramie came off the bench to hit a pair of 3s. A pair of tough inside baskets by Alyssa Saklak (17 points, 12 rebounds) made it 36-34 with 6:40 left.

"I'm proud of how they battled back and fought hard," said Schaumburg coach Ashley Berggren. "But Fremd is a great team and they're not going to back down easily."

Wiedemann hit a pair of 3s and found McConnell for a backdoor layup. Bernie Williams had a rebound basket in the run to a 49-34 lead.

"When it comes down to big shots everyone can step up," Wiedemann said after going 5-for-9 behind the arc.

"I thought Jessi had some big answers," Yates said. "As of late she's hit a lot of big shots to get us back in our comfort zone."