Fremd defeats Lake Park for tourney championship
Fremd sophomore Patrick Benka already knew as a spectator that anything can happen in the championship game of Fenton’s Chuck Mitchell Thanksgiving Tournament.
A member of the sophomore team last season, Benka watched then-senior brother Sean and the Vikings lose in the final to Proviso West by 10 points after entering the fourth quarter ahead by nine.
“Yeah, yeah, (Sean) was not happy,” Patrick Benka said. “A sour memory, but we’re happy that we got this one.”
On Friday the Vikings were the ones who captured the championship in somewhat peculiar fashion, defeating Lake Park 57-38.
Benka had a team-high 12 points as a reserve as strong rebounding and bench play paved the way for victory.
Standout senior guard Riley Glassmann, who had 70 points in three pool victories, also had 12 points but was scoreless in the first half after being kept on the bench following two quick fouls.
Fremd (4-0) still led 25-18 at the half and extended it to 41-30 after three quarters with seven points from Glassmann.
“It’s awesome (to win), especially after last year. I’m so happy right now because we really wanted this one,” Glassmann said. “It’s tough (sitting), but I have faith in my teammates. We have 11, 12 guys who can really play.”
Fremd had 24 points from four reserves. Benka had seven points during the second quarter, in which the Lancers (3-1) went scoreless for 6:42. The Vikings turned a 16-14 deficit into a 21-16 lead.
“It’s my fourth game playing (varsity). I’m excited. I’ll probably go home and write this down in my diary,” Benka said.
“That second quarter was a key stretch for us,” Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. “Our seniors talked about (last year’s final). They came with a competitive attitude tonight. They really wanted to make up with that game last year that they thought they had.”
Lake Park made just 15 of 40 shots and 6 of 13 free throws. Big men Ben Carlson and Matt Ochoa also helped Fremd lead 32-16 in rebounds and limit the Lancers to 5 offensive boards.
The Lancers’ Sean Moore had 8 of his team-high 10 points in the first half.
“We missed at least five layups, 50 percent of our free throws and we had about 10 open layups and didn’t hit any of them,” Lake Park coach Josh Virostko said. “If you hit those, it’s a game. You might not win, but it’s a 1- or 2-point game. To beat a good team, you have to hit shots. If you don’t make that happen, you can’t wish a win.”