Fremd maintains composure, wins at Hoffman Estates
Fremd doesn't panic.
In the wake of momentum-building third-quarter events Thursday night for host Hoffman Estates - a crowd-rousing slam-dunk putback by Brandon Hall, followed immediately by an inexplicably disallowed 3-pointer by the Vikings' Patrick Benka - Fremd held it together anyway.
The Vikings fought through concurrent foul trouble with great effort from their bench and finally pulled away for a 64-47 Mid-Suburban West win.
The Vikings (7-1, 2-0) hit all 10 free throws in the fourth quarter in fighting off the scrambling Hawks. Fremd was also able to leverage its game-long rebounding advantage, rarely allowing the Hawks (2-6, 0-2) second chances.
Defensively, they rarely allowed them many good looks either, keeping a steady, rotating hand in the face of Hawks scoring machine Jorden Thornton (17 points, but on 18 shots).
"Thornton's a great player. We knew this past week we had to be up on him," said Fremd high scorer Benka (23 points).
Benka and junior frontcourt-star-in-waiting Brian Dompke (16) dominated around the basket and were the mainstays of Fremd's 26-15 rebounding advantage. But when guards Payton Kim, Kyle Sliwa and Luke Schoffstall all got in foul trouble, it was Fremd's bench that shined.
Guard Ryan Martin directed an end-of-the-quarter spread that produced his driving bucket as time expired on period one, with only one starter on the floor. Reserve forward Samson Oladimeji had two key third-quarter buckets, including a layin on a nice feed from Dylan Simios, who earlier added a 3-pointer off the bench.
"I thought we got a lot of contributions off the bench," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski.
"We're lucky to have a really deep team," said Benka. "We have great defenders off the bench."
Hoffman would agree. Thornton was hounded all night by the rotating guards, although it left Terry Davis open for two 3-pointers and high-flying Brandon Hall (13 points) played volleyball on the offensive boards during the infrequent times the Vikings lost track of him.
But a series in the third quarter where Hoffman had three straight turnovers resulted in 7 Fremd points: Martin's driving bucket, Benka's jumper, a Sliwa free throw and Oladimeji's putback of a missed Sliwa free toss. That ballooned the lead to 45-33 and it never went under double digits again.
Sequences like that, featuring careless ballhandling, were what got Hoffman coach Luke Yanule's attention.
"I was really disappointed in our lack of concentration," he said. "Our minds were not engaged. This is not who we are - this is a disappointing loss."
Widlowski still noticed that Hoffman stayed within striking distance most of the way, though: "This game was a battle … not indicative of the score."