Dompke, Fremd get defensive with Palatine

Brian Dompke and Fremd's smothering defense were too much for crosstown rival Palatine in a 53-27 boys basketball decision Friday at Fremd.

Dompke scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds, and the Fremd defense stifled Palatine in the second half, holding the Pirates to just 7 points as both teams opened their Mid-Suburban West slate.

"Defense is everything here at Fremd," said Dompke, who played last year as sophomore for the varsity. "That is one of the first things we are taught."

But the Vikings (5-1, 1-0) are also taught offense, and Dompke has been learning the lesson well. The junior had tremendous success posting up the smaller Palatine squad.

"My teammates were able to find with my size advantage in the post," said Dompke, who is 6-foot-5. "I was just being aggressive and finding my spots and trying to finish."

Fremd coach Bob Widlowski liked the way Dompke went to the basket. But he also like Dompke's defense and rebounding.

"I thought Dompke really stepped us for us tonight," Widlowski said. "I thought he was aggressive underneath and rebounded well. He also finished on the offensive end."

Fremd led from start to finish, but Palatine made it interesting in the first half.

Playing without Jovone Stricker, who sprained his ankle this past week in practice, Palatine (2-3, 0-1) was pulled to 21-17 on a 3-pointer by Josh Turner with 4:09 left in the first half.

But that's when Fremd put the shackles on the Pirates.

Palatine converted just 2 field goals the rest of the way and would hit just 1 of 19 shots in the second half.

"I thought we did a real nice job defensively in the second half," Widlowski said. "I thought that was big focus on us at halftime. We got a lot of deflections in the second half and I thought we rebounded better as well."

Meanwhile, the Fremd offense was blazing.

With Dompke and 6-foot-8 Patrick Benka, who finished with 6 points while battling in foul trouble, roaming underneath, it opened up the court for Kyle Sliwa. The junior guard was able to penetrate and shoot from the outside and finished with 14 points.

"It helps a lot to have those guys inside," Sliwa said. "I'll bring it down low and it will open up the outside."

Sliwa said that the adjustments the Vikings made at the half were the key to shutting down Palatine in the second half.

"We made some good second half adjustments," Sliwa said. "In the first half, we were helping too much. They were getting some wide-open shooters. In the second half, we did not over-help and stayed on our guys and trusted our defense, and it really helped us."

Luke Schoffstall had 6 points while Payton Kim chipped in 5 points for Fremd.

Widlowski, whose team plays Elk Grove on Saturday, likes the direction of his team early in the season.

"We want to continue to build," Widlowski said. "And we want to build off of this."

Palatine was led Matt Ulrich, who finished with 5 points.

"When you play a team as skilled and well-coached as they are, there is very little room for error," Palatine coach Eric Millstone said. "We made some errors tonight. And you can't do that against a good team."