Conant's strong inside game beats Fremd

The one-two inside punch from Conant's Camden Lathos and junior Bradley Biedke was too much for Fremd to handle in Hoffman Estates.

Biedke, a 6-foot-6 junior, scored 20 points, grabbed three rebounds and blocked three shots in Conant's 61-46 win to start the Mid-Suburban West season.

Lathos, a 6-6 senior, scored 18 points and pulled down 7 rebounds to up the Cougars' record to 3-2 and 1-0.

"We wanted to spread them out," said Biedke. "The coaches had our red team in practice really push us. Our goal is to win conference and we were all out here to win. We were OK with our effort tonight but we think we can play better on defense. Yusuf (Cisse) showed some great leadership tonight. We love the way he plays."

Conant led 28-25 at the break after 2 ties and 5 lead changes. Conant led 13-11 after the first quarter.

Biedke gave Conant the lead for good in the third quarter at 30-28 with 6:00 left. Biedke then assisted Lathos for a 32-28 lead.

Daniel Ko (9 points) pulled the Vikings (2-3, 0-1) within 32-30 but Conant put together a 9-0 run to build a 41-30 lead with 7:10 left in the game. Conant pulled away down the stretch by hitting 6 of 11 free throws. Conant was 11 of 17 at the charity stripe.

Lathos scored 10 of his points in the fourth quarter. Biedke added 8 points.

"We competed the whole game," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski. "There were a few plays that we weren't able to complete on both offense and defense."

Ryan Cox led Fremd with 10 points. Samuel Hirsch, Jordan Williams, and Ko each scored 9 points. Ko had two blocks and Williams 6 rebounds.

The Vikings finished at 50% on 21-of-42 shooting but were 2-7 in the critical third quarter.

Conant, who was 9 of 21 in the first half, hit 13 of 19 in the second half.

"We moved the ball well in the second half," said Conant coach Matt Walsh. "Our half-court execution on working to get the ball inside was a big factor. We showed a lot of patience to get the ball inside and to get quality shots. This past week in practice we worked on getting better in all areas. Our scout team was instrumental in our success this week. This team was really focused this week.

"A win is a win the MSL West this year. All games are going to be tough."