Fremd blocks Schaumburg’s path to regional final
Fremd’s balance was too much for Schaumburg on Wednesday at the Class 4A Dundee-Crown regional.
Fremd had all five of its starters in double figures as the Vikings pulled away for a 65-44 win. It was the third time that Fremd beat Schaumburg this season.
“It was a slow start but a great finish,” Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. “What we are particularly proud of is we had five guys score in double figures. I haven't seen that in a while around here. That is hard to guard.”
Fremd (18-9) will meet Barrington in Friday’s regional final. Barrington swept the Vikings earlier this season.
Jordan Williams led the Vikings with 15 points and 7 rebounds, playing inside against the tall Schaumburg team.
“Schaumburg is a very big team,” Williams said. “We practiced and prepared for them to be more physical with their size.”
Daniel Ko had 13 points while Ryan Cox and Sam Hirsch each had 11 and Ryan Brown finished with 10 points.
“We shared the ball and ran our stuff,” Widlowski said. “That type of play is hard on teams.”
Led by the inside play of Zion Young, Schaumburg converted five of its first six shots as the Saxons built a 16-11 lead after one quarter.
Fremd then turned up its defensive play. The Vikings held Schaumburg to just one field goal in the first 6½ minutes of the second quarter. Schaumburg shot 5 of 26 from there to the start of the fourth quarter.
“That's been the story of the year,” Schaumburg coach Jason Tucker said. “The guys played hard, but we really did not do what we were working on for five straight days which was possessing a lot. I thought we got some good shots, we just didn't make them.”
Widlowski said that his defense came up big again.
“We were very pleased by the way we executed,” Widlowski said. “With their sets and switching out. I thought Hirsch and (Erik Stanton) did a nice job of guarding their better players.”
Meanwhile the Fremd offense, which knocked down just two field goals in the first quarter, went to work. With Hirsch and Jordan Williams attacking the basket, the Vikings rallied from an 18-14 deficit to go on a 17-1 run and take a 31-19 advantage.
Schaumburg (16-15) got to 33-24 early in the third quarter. But that Fremd balance got them again with their balance.
This time it was Daniel Ko, Ryan Brown and Ryan Cox spearheading the play. The Vikings went on a 10-0 run to open up a 43-24 lead.
“I just had to trust myself and box these guys out and trust the fundamentals,” said Ko, who despite being 6-foot-1, plays down low and picked up 7 rebounds.
“In basketball anything can happen. So we knew we had to come out strong and be confident.”
Schaumburg was led by Young, who had 11 points and 8 rebounds. Javonte McCoy had 10 points, Michael Tancredi scored 8 points, all in the fourth quarter while Jordan Tunis finished with 5 points.
“We have had a great group,” Tucker said. “We are excited that we have almost every one coming back next year. We want better and we will get better.”
Barrington 58, Dundee-Crown 44: Elgin top sectional seed Barrington (20-5) nearly hit a roadblock. The Broncos struggled in the first half before pulling away. Oliver Gray led the Broncos with 18 points. Nick Peipert had 17 points and Alec Schmidts had 13 points. Zachary Randal led Dundee-Crown (12-17) with 17 points.