Boys basketball: Fremd holds off Schaumburg for 20th win
Amassing 20 wins in a season is a milestone for an MLB pitcher.
Same goes for a high school basketball team.
Fremd's boys hoops squad notched victory No. 20 on Tuesday night, edging visiting Schaumburg 47-44 in a taut-throughout Mid-Suburban League West game in Palatine.
The Vikings' ace southpaw, junior forward Jordan Williams --- without a mound in sight --- scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds as Fremd improved to 20-2 overall and a division-leading 6-1 in the MSL West.
"Twenty, it's a good number and I like it," said Fremd coach Mike Brown, whose Vikes trailed 10-7 after one quarter and led 20-18 at the break. "But we were fortunate to come out on top tonight. That was a battle, start to finish.
"Schaumburg," he added, "has some very good players."
Saxons standout post player Zion Young, a 6-foot-8 senior, scored a team-high 14 points but only 3 after halftime because of foul trouble.
He committed his fourth foul at 4:23 of the third quarter and didn't return to action until the start of the fourth frame, when Fremd was up 35-28.
Schaumburg (16-8, 2-5) relied on clutch three-point shooting in the fourth to make formidable Fremd sweat, getting a trey from Javonte McCoy (9 points) to cut the hosts' lead to 45-41 at 2:54 and a triple from Jordan Tunis (10 points) to pare the advantage to 45-44 with 34 seconds left.
Fremd senior guard Sam Hirsch (11 points, 9 via 3-pointers) hit 2 free throws with 16 ticks left and the Vikings escaped with the 'W' after Schaumburg missed a three-point launch 4 seconds shy of the final buzzer.
"I like what we're doing; we'll be fine," Schaumburg coach Jason Tucker said after Fremd swept the season series. "Fremd is the best team in the area in my opinion. That's a one or a two seed in our sectional."
Fremd, ranked No. 4 in the Daily Herald Top 20 to Schaumburg's No. 20, found a bit of rhythm on offense in the second quarter, thanks to a pair of treys from senior guard Ryan Brown (6 points) and a 3 from Hirsch.
The Vikings steadily took control in the third quarter, earning a 28-20 lead on a field goal from Williams, who has a knack for slithering through the lane and gliding en route to a lefty layup.
"Good player, good kid, very good teammate," Mike Brown said. "Wants to win, likes to win."
Williams struck for 4 point in a 1-minute span in the fourth quarter, with the second bucket off a sweet feed from junior guard-forward Tommy Moffett (6 points, 4 boards) expanding the lead to 44-33 at the 5:13 mark.
"My role?" Williams said. "Try to lead and drive when I see an opening.
"We overcame some adversity tonight. We weren't playing well early. What helped us a lot was Tommy Moffett's leadership; he urged us to stick together before the start of the second half. It was something we needed to hear."
Vikings junior guard Rafael Pinto scored 5 points and swatted a pair of second-quarter shots in less than 30 seconds.
Young came down with 9 rebounds for the Saxons, and junior forward Cam Anderson netted 6 points. Schaumburg's Tony Horton had 5 points.