Girls basketball: Fremd snaps two-game skid with entertaining win over Carmel
Near the end of a taut, highly entertaining girls basketball game at Carmel Catholic on Saturday afternoon, Fremd coach Jim Weaver shouted a reminder to his Vikings as Fremd senior guard Sophia McMillan prepared to shoot a free throw.
“No fouls!” an animated Weaver yelled. “Just stand there and look cool.”
The order was part serious, part comic relief.
McMillan made the freebie.
Seconds later, Fremd sported the collective look of a winner in Mundelein. The Vikings — coming off a pair of losses in three days, to Maine South on Tuesday, then to Hersey on Thursday — defeated the Corsairs 52-47 in a nonconference game between 7-2 squads.
“Sure, you could call this win the highlight of my 10 games as a head coach,” cracked a smiling Weaver, a longtime assistant coach in the program before succeeding James Han, who guided Fremd to a Class 4A state runner-up finish last season. “The great thing about this win was our response after losing our second game this week. To play a very good team like Carmel, you’d better play with a lot of intensity if you’re looking to win.
“We did that.”
And how.
Fremd senior forward Bella Del Mar personified that zeal. The 6-footer scored only 2 points and grabbed a modest 2 rebounds but notched an unofficial triple-double in bruises and floor burns and steadfast moments. Del Mar took 2 charges, skidding across hardwood both times after hustling to establish position, and disrupted a Carmel possession in the final minute before pouncing on the loose ball ahead of a possession-saving timeout.
“We call those ‘EGBs — ‘Energy-Giving Behaviors,’” said Weaver. “Bella provided those for us from start to finish.”
“Grit and toughness,” Del Mar said. “Show that, win a game. We also passed more and shared the ball more than we had in our two losses. We found the open player today. I wasn’t that player, but I was fine with that.”
Fremd senior forward Greta Thompson and senior guard Lucy Kim combined for 8 of their team’s 10 three-pointers. Rollins commit Thompson (17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks) netted 5 treys (4 in the first 8 minutes), and the dauntless Kim (team-best 18 points) hit two of her three triples in the fourth quarter, none bigger than the one that put Fremd up 47-45 at the 2:02 mark.
Fourteen seconds later, talent-drenched Carmel freshman Liv Johnson (game-high 19 points) knotted it at 47 with a field goal. The recent Algonquin Middle School graduate and 6-1 threat (outside, inside and every spot in between) had poured in 14 first-half points, including 11 in the first quarter.
A bucket by Thompson and a combined 3 free throws from Del Mar and McMillan capped off the scoring.
The 5-foot-6 McMillan (4 points) did an impressive job guarding Johnson for most of the final three quarters. The Vikings (8-2) limited the Corsairs (7-3) to 4 points in the third quarter. Thompson’s final trey of the day made it a 38-38 game entering quarter four.
“Great game, back and forth,” said Carmel coach Ben Berg. “Fremd has experienced kids — kids who played minutes in the state championship game last season. We had opportunities today, but we didn’t execute when we needed to execute.
“Games like this, against strong programs like Fremd’s, they’re all about helping us prepare for big games, playoff games, in mid-February. It’s December 13. We learned things today; we’ll grow from this.”
Carmel junior reserve guard Anna Chilcutt scored all 9 of her points — all via three-pointers — in the second quarter. Classmate Maliyah Mays netted 8 points, including 4 in the first quarter off a pair of quick, slithering, left-handed drives. Senior Maron Bowes grabbed a game-high 9 boards, and junior Grace Booher contributed 5 points.
Fremd’s Miami (Ohio) commit, junior guard Gracie Todd, struck for 9 points. She nailed 1 of the Vikings’ 5 three-pointers in the first quarter.
“Good win, fun game,” said Thompson.
“Bella,” she added, “is really tough. I rely on her. We all rely on her. You can count on her to give a full effort every game.”