Fremd hands Schaumburg its 1st loss

It was a power night for Fremd.

The Vikings went outside and then back inside to turn out the lights on Schaumburg 62-45 Friday in Palatine.

Fremd played a solid game on both ends on the court as the Vikings (4-3, 1-1) gave Schaumburg its first loss of the season.

"This is one of our better games," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. "We talk about getting better and I think we made some strides. Our outside shooting stretched their defense out a lot."

Fremd broke open the game early.

With the game tied at 6-6, the Vikings used their outside shooting to get on a roll.

Ryan Cox, who rolled his ankle in Tuesday's win but was still able to play Friday, hit a shot that began a 6-0 run for Fremd.

After a basket by Schaumburg's Tyler March, the Vikings ran off 11 unanswered points. A 3-pointer by Cox ended the first quarter and 3s by James Moffett and Ryan Brown enabled Fremd to open up a 23-8 lead just a minute into the second quarter.

"It was game-time decision if I would play today," said Cox, who scored 10 of his 15 points in the first quarter.

"I was fine during the game thanks to all the adrenaline. We are rolling right now."

Fremd continued to shoot well from outside the arc with Moffett and Brown each knocking down a 3 as the Vikings converted 6-of-9 from 3-point land in the first half.

Meanwhile, Schaumburg was having its struggles offensively thanks to a swarming Fremd defense. The Vikings limited the Saxons (7-1, 1-1) to 8-of-26 shooting in the first half including 2-of-11 from outside the arc as the Vikings built a 31-21 lead at the break.

"We were struggling offensively," Schaumburg coach Jason Tucker said. "I don't know what's going in the last two games but we can't put the ball in the hole. That's credit to Fremd. We just didn't have it tonight."

Fremd continue its onslaught behind Jordan Williams in the second half.

The 6-foot-6 sophomore scored Fremd's first six points of the second half as the Vikings extended their lead to 37-23. Williams would score 16 of his game-high 19 points in the second half as Fremd pulled away.

"Finding James (Moffett) when they were playing the zone that opened up the defense for me," said Williams, who also had seven rebounds. "I was able to take it inside for us. That was what was successful for us."

Moffett, who knocked down another 3-pointer in the second half to finish with 9 points, said the Vikings' outside shooting helped open up their inside game.

"I have been able to shoot all my life and I know that our guys can get to the rack," Moffett said. "I feel that it definitely broke their zone and made them play more man-to-man which is better for us."

The Vikings also got 8 points from Sam Hirsch, six points from Brown and five points and six rebounds from Daniel Ko.

Schaumburg was led by Zion Young, who had 16 points and five rebounds, Ray Black had 9 points, and March and Jordan Tunis each had 8 points.

Widlowski said that this was a complete game for his team, which has now won two in a row after losing three previous games.

"I thought we played well on both ends of the floor," Widlowski said. "They have some weapons to score. They have some guys you have to guard and I thought we dug in hard."