Boys basketball: Pinto scores 23 in Fremd’s championship win over Evanston at Fenton

Thanks to the snowiest Thanksgiving weekend in nearly a decade, a slew of basketball tournaments were forced to either play early Saturday, Monday evening, or scrap the remainder of the tourney schedule altogether.

Fortunately for finalists of Fenton's 37th edition of its Chuck Mitchell Tournament, Fremd and Evanston, they were to make it to Monday night to battle for top team honors on the Bison's home tartan floor.

Which for the coaches of both squads, Mike Brown of Fremd and Evanston's Mike Ellis, the trade off of missing a day of practice to play for the title was of great value to each team.

"The opportunity to play Evanston in this game and the experience that you can get from that made it the right decision to play this game," Brown said.

"Year in and year out our program is one of the top five to 10 teams in the state in terms of strength of schedule so our program is used to playing tough, competitive games," Ellis said.

For Brown and his club it would be an experience that it took full advantage of as it left Bensenville with a 69-55 win and the Mitchell title.

"We knew that (Evanston) is a good team," Fremd senior forward and Mitchell all-tourney honoree Rafael Pinto said.

"We lost to them in the tournament last year (so) we knew it was going to be a good test for us. We kept level-headed and did what we had to do to win. It makes us better especially for (Mid-Suburban West) divisional play."

The Vikings (4-0) used a 10-0 surge over the final 2:33 of the first quarter to gain the upper hand. The run began with a Ricardo Requeno 3-pointer and had back-to-back three-point plays from all-tourney selection Tommy Moffett and Chase Nelson (12 points) off a Moffett feed to close the quarter with Fremd up 18-10.

With the Vikings advantage still at eight (23-15), a putback from tourney MVP Jordan Williams got them started on 12-3 tear that gave them their biggest lead of the game. A Pinto basket made it 35-18 with 80 seconds remaining until halftime when Fremd led 35-22.

That lead became a 54-38 edge entering the final frame. The Wildkits (3-1) made their final charge after a Williams basket off a pass from Nelson had Fremd up 59-47 with 5:34 left.

A free throw by Evanston senior guard Timi Ogunsanya (12 points) followed by consecutive baskets by all-tourney pick Vito Rocca brought the Wildkits within 59-52 with 4:30 to play.

Fremd put the game away with a 10-2 run as Williams added 4 of his 17 points and Pinto scored 5 of his game-high 23 which was topped off by a 3-point shot from the right corner.

Wildkits junior Dion Lane Jr. led the Evanston effort with 16 points followed by Rocca who tallied 10 before fouling out with just under three minutes left.

The rescheduled third-place contest between 2-1 teams Rolling Meadows and Romeoville that was to have taken place prior to the championship game was canceled due to the Spartans facing travel issues in light of Monday's weather.