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Boys basketball: Hirsch heats up, helps Fremd top Palatine

Fremd boys basketball coach Mike Brown’s favorite order to his Vikings during games is, “Get a stop!”

“We hear it,” said Vikings senior Sam Hirsch. “We all know how important defense is because it often starts our offense.”

One hoopster could not be halted in the third quarter of Fremd’s 57-47 defeat of host Palatine on Thursday night.

Hirsch, Sam Hirsch.

The 6-foot-4 guard poured in 14 of his team-high 17 points in the frame, including 4 of his 5 treys in the Mid-Suburban League West game.

But his best bucket might have been his 2-point field goal, a one-handed, athletic putback that put the visitors up 44-31 at 1:53 of the pivotal third quarter and marked the middle two points of his 8-0 run.

“I jumped too early,” a smiling Hirsch recalled. “I had to hang a little, reach back, then tap it in.

“Luckily, it went in.”

So did his final shot — another 3-pointer, with only 2 seconds left — in the third quarter, swelling the Vikings’ lead to a seemingly comfy 50-32.

Fremd (19-2, 5-1 in the MSL West) — ranked No. 4 in the Daily Herald’s Top 20 — had defeated No. 16 Palatine by 10 points in the teams’ first meeting in December.

“Fremd,” Palatine coach Eric Millstone said, “can hurt you with a variety of players and in a variety of ways. Their guys are interchangeable, long and fundamentally sound. Add that all up and that’s why they’re 19-2.”

The Pirates (12-10, 3-3) had trailed only 39-31 at 3:40 of the third before Hirsch took over by fraying twine.

“My teammates got the ball to me,” said the humble Hirsch, who opened the game with a trey and nailed his second triple in the first minute of the third quarter.

“Our passers,” Brown said, “did a good job delivering the ball to Sam, who came up big for us.”

Palatine junior forward Tony Balanganayi kept the hosts in it, finishing with game highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Ten of his points came via free throws.

“Tony was Tony,” Millstone said, meaning Tony, a 6-foot-4 force with balletic-like footwork, once again toiled hard in the paint and earned every point.

Fremd wound up with 9 3-pointers, with junior reserve guard Chase Nelson (6 points) hitting a pair and junior guard Rafael Pinto (10 points) and senior guard Ryan Brown (7 points) netting 1 apiece to accompany Hirsch’s quintet from distance.

Palatine scored 9 of the first 11 points of the fourth quarter, paring Fremd’s advantage 52-41. But Fremd limited the Pirates to a scant 4 points in the final 6 minutes.

“What a tough battle,” said Mike Brown, whose crew captured the Lakes MLK tourney title on Monday. “Palatine is so good, and it’s hard to play on their court.

“We did just enough to win.”

Vikings junior forward Jordan Williams scored all 13 of his points in the final three quarters, and classmate Tommy Moffett came down with a team-high 7 rebounds.

Carter Monroe, Abram Williams and Andy Iliopoulos each scored 5 points for Palatine. The 6-1 Iliopoulos grabbed 5 boards, including 4 off the offensive glass.

In the Fremd-Palatine sophomore game, Palatine’s Jayden Evans hit a clutch jumper with 1 second left in the Pirates’ 48-46 win.

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