Fremd rallies from 14 down, tips Conant in OT

Friday night's MSL West tilt between Conant and Fremd marked a tremendous opportunity for the winner of that bout to possibly pull within a game of the division lead.

It also marked the midway point of divisional competition in the West and its brother division, the MSL East.

Thanks to an ability to bounce back after struggling in the early going, the host Vikings rallied from a 14-point third quarter deficit. Fremd defeated the visiting Cougars 45-43 in overtime before a packed Fremd Fieldhouse on a Ryan Sammons three-pointer off a Caiden Suchy pass with seven ticks remaining in period number five.

That, coupled with Palatine's 57-52 overtime home win over Barrington, moved the Vikings (11-6, 3-2) a game back of both the Pirates and Broncos who are each 4-1.

Sammons, who finished the night with 9 points, made all four of Friend's points in the extra session. He also secured a rebound after a pair of missed Conant free throw attempts with 46 seconds remaining to set up the Vikings' winning possession. It had taken place after he went 1 of 2 at the charity stripe at the 1:16 mark.

In fact, all of it came for the 6-3 Vikings senior guard after needing to change shoes for overtime after he had damaged his shoelaces on his first pair.

"(Although) I missed that free throw to tie the game," Sammons said. "I was still confident. I'm trusting in my teammates and my teammate (Caiden) found me and I made the shot. We're a positive team. We grind it out."

For the hosts, the process of making their comeback began with a 10-2 run over the final three minutes of the third that started with Cameron Kuhl triple that would let Fremd pull within 35-29 after three.

After an inside basket by Conant's Isaiah Rhodes (8 points) gave them a 37-29 edge just 45 ticks into the fourth, the Vikings outscored them 12-4 the rest of the quarter culminating with a Mark Braun hoop that knotted the score at 41 with 50 seconds left in regulation.

Conant (9-7, 2-3) had a last chance for victory in regulation go for not when a Yusuf Cisse jumper hit the side of the rim as time expired.

Fremd senior forward Suchy played his part in the game-winning heroics when he found Sammons from behind the arc in the extra session's final ticks of the clock.

"I just drove in, saw (that) No. 12 was wide open," said Suchy, who led Fremd in the scoring column with 14 points. "I made an unselfish pass. I'm feeling really good because our team shows a lot of resilience because whenever we're down, we come right back up."

Conant's leading scorer, 6-6 Camden Lathos, who had a game-high 17 points and 7 rebounds, missed a game-tying, off-balance 15-footer as time expired.

Sammons looked ahead to the second half of MSL West play with a mixture of confidence and optimism.

"I know we had some losses early, but we're going to keep grinding it out in (division) and we are going to get there," said Sammons, whose team plays at the Lakes MLK weekend tourney in Lake Villa Saturday and Monday.