High hopes downstate for Fremd's supersized team

NORMAL — One of the tallest teams in Mid-Suburban League girls basketball history heads to the state tournament hoping to reach new heights.

Fremd, last year's Class 4A state runner-up, gets another opportunity for the school's first state championship in the sport.

The Vikings (29-2), ranked No. 1 in Class 4A, launch their bid against No. 2 Whitney Young (27-5) in Friday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal at Illinois State's Redbird Arena.

The second semifinal matches No. 5 Trinity against No. 6 Benet, the defending state champion.

Saturday's third-place game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with the championship at 8:15 p.m.

“They're big,” said Dolphins veteran coach Corry (Carter) Irvin of Fremd.

Irvin, a former standout at Larkin High School, is wary of the size problems the Vikings could pose for her team.

“Their front line is tall and talented,” Irvin said of Fremd's all-6-foot-2 front line of Bryana Hopkins, Grace Tworek and Julia Wacker. “And they are good at what they do.”

Senior guard Kiara Lewis is also exceptionally good at what she does for Whitney Young. The Ohio State recruit averages 24 points.

“Kiara is good at making our other players good,” said Irvin, who is 418-58 in 15 seasons at the Chicago Public League powerhouse. “She does a lot more than score. She can pass, She can rebound. A lot of that gets overlooked because she can score so easily.”

Fremd won't overlook Lewis, a first-team Associated Press all-stater who had 47 points in an 81-78 win over Class 3A sectional finalist Marshall on Jan. 14.

“Obviously, when a kid scores 47 points that will get your attention,” said Fremd coach Dave Yates, who has a career record of 222-83 in 10 seasons. “But they have other good pieces.”

Those include Isabelle Spingola (16.4 pgg) and Danyelle Williams (10.0), who leads the team with 256 rebounds.

Savannah Altman (108 rebounds), Breanna Beck (75 rebounds, 75 assists) and Adrienne Truitt (54 rebounds, 45 assists) all average 6 points for the Dolphins, who have won 17 of their last 18. The only loss in that stretch came against Blackman High School in Tennessee at the Music City Classic on Jan. 16.

Irwin said two players left the team after the Nashville tournament and the Dolphins went through a lot of self-evaluation to make sure everyone was still connected.

“We went through stretches where we were real individuals,” Irwin said. “We kind of put it on our captains for the rest of the season. We told them it was up to them if they wanted to pull the team together to get downstate and not have the season end like last year (with a loss in the supersectional).

The Dolphins have not lost since the Nashville tourney.

“We told the girls to just focus on enjoying the last two games of the season down here and have fun,” Irwin said. “They play well when they are having fun.”

Irwin said her team likes to get up and down the floor.

“Teams will try to go with us early in games,” she said. “We tell the girls we have to keep up the pace the whole game.”

Scoring-wise, Fremd is led by Hopkins (12.9 ppg), Brianna Lewis (11.6), Tworek (10.2) and Erin Lenahan (5.6), who has 104 rebounds and 40 assists. Hopkins earned second-team AP all-state recognition, and Lewis earned an honorable mention.

Hopkins led the Vikes on the boards with 202 rebounds, followed by Tworek (193) and Wacker (125).

Lewis, the Vikes' 5-foot-3 energy-filled point guard, has 82 assists and 77 rebounds.

“We've played pretty good defense,” Yates said. “We're a very good offensive team but we've been holding people in the 20s and 30s.”

Yates feels fortunate to have three 6-plus-footers.

“I'll say this — I can't imagine there are many teams in the state with as many athletic and big kids as we have. It's whatever — the water in Palatine was unique about 17-18 years ago.

“For many years, I've coached posts 5-foot-9, 5-10, 5-11 and then, bam, here come these guys.”

The three 6-2 girls will all play in college — Hopkins at Northwestern, Tworek at Harvard and Wacker at Hillside College.

“A lot of teams will say, ‘We knew they were big, but we didn't know that big, or that long' ” Yates said. “But all our posts can handle the ball, step out and shoot 3s and are athletic.”

Tworek has 33 3-pointers while Hopkins has eight and Wacker three.

The four-time defending champion Mid-Suburban Vikings also get plenty of 3-pointers from others, including senior Amanda McCartney (team-high 38), senior Lauren Glaser (28), junior Hayley Williams (27), Lenahan (11), junior Midori Williams (10), Lewis (9), junior Missy Adrian (2) and senior Jenna Simios (1).

Lewis will play at Texas Southern, Lenahan at Maryville University and McCartney at Elmhurst.

Ten Vikings were on the team last year.

“These kids have crazy amounts of experience,” Yates said. “They've made my job easy to coach them. When you get to this point of the season, you start reflecting, and think ‘Wow, they're really good, and smart and intelligent kids.'

“Whenever you give them a scouting, they look at it, understand it and execute it. They're a blast to coach.”

Yates would love to see them go out with a blast.

“I think there are four very good, very even basketball teams here this weekend,” he said. “Obviously there will be people who say this team is the favorite or that team is the favorite. But I have seen all four and I can't say anyone is head and shoulders above another.”

While the Vikes are shooting for their first state title, Young is going after a fourth (2008, 2012, 2014), all under Carter.

She also has two second-place finishes, three thirds and one fourth in her career.

“They've been playing real well,” Yates said of Whitney Young. “They've really caught fire since January. With their ability to put points up and at the same time play pretty good defense, something is going to give Friday night.

“Either they're going to put up 70 and we're not defending, or we are going to defend and it's going to turn into a game in the 50s.

“Obviously tempo is important and when I think of Whitney Young, I think of guards. I'm sure they have got a bunch and we've got to handle their pressure and deal with whatever they bring.”

Yates hopes playing some of the top teams in the nation (from Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia and Ohio) will have the Vikes prepared for the Dolphins.

“We played teams as athletic and as good as them,” Yates said. “But they are Whitney Young. I think they bring a mystique that has been earned and obviously you have to deal with that. You've got to bring your best ‘A' game against them.”

Yates is stressing to his players to enjoy the experience this time.

“You go down there the first time and it's just a blur,” he said. “I reached out to a few other coaches before we left last year and they gave me a few really good suggestions. But each one said, ‘Enjoy it.'

“Everyone told me that when we got there, too. But honestly, I never did. Any time you do something the first time, you're just worried about being where you're supposed to be and all the logistics. People don't realize everything that needs to be done.”

So Yates' hopes is that his player truly savor the experience this time.

“The one message I would give the girls is to take a moment and enjoy it,” he said. “We have a big senior group, so they don't have this chance again. And there's no guarantee we'll have another chance.”

But the Vikings are guaranteed to become the school's first girls basketball team to bring home a state trophy two years in a row.