Girls basketball: Hot-shooting Fremd rolls past Rolling Meadows
When Fremd and Rolling Meadows met for their first MId-Suburban East game on Dec. 5, the host Vikings were nursing a 4-point lead with under a minute to play.
On Thursday night, the two teams were back at it again to start the second half of MSL East play.
This time, things were not quite as nerve-wracking for the Vikings (17-3, 5-1), who remained in a three-way tie for first in the East after a 62-32 triumph at Rolling Meadows. Hersey and Prospect are also 5-1.
Two-time defending MSL champ Fremd was led by junior Gracie Todd (15 points, five 3-pointers) and seniors Greta Thompson (13 points, one 3-pointer), Sophia McMillan (10 points, two 3-pointers) and Bella Del Mar (9 points, one 3-pointer). In all, the Vikes had 11 3-pointers, including one apiece from Nelly Gonnella and Hadley Carter.
"That's the way we're capable of shooting when we are relaxed and confident, moving the ball and sharing it," said Fremd coach Jim Weaver, who saw his team make six 3-pointers in the third quarter. "We talked at half about getting closer 3-pointers because we were shooting 25-footers in the first half. So the girls did a nice job of adjusting at halftime. They stuck to the game plan we put together and did a great job."
The Vikes won the first encounter with Meadows, 52-46.
"The biggest difference this time was hitting our shots and getting over their press because that's something we struggled with the first time," said McMIllan, an Illinois University soccer pledge who played a superb all-around game with multiple rebounds, assists and steals. "So finding the middle of the floor and beating them on transition really helped us."
"We played better, we talked about how we looked out of sync the last game against them," Weaver added. "We talked about trusting who we are and how we we've worked so hard and how much we've put into it. We said just relax and play your game. It was the same team, different game."
Nell Osterhues' 3-pointer with 6:38 left in the first quarter put Meadows (12-8, 1-5) in front 4-3 but that would be the Mustangs' last lead.
Thompson answered with a drive up the middle for a short bank shot to ignite a 6-2 run, capped by back-to-back fastbreak layups by McMillan. The first came off a nice transition assist from Kim and the second following a steal by McMillan and some more nice passing with Thompson getting the ball back to McMillan.
Thompson's steal and layup just before the first-quarter buzzer increased the lead to 12-7.
In the second quarter, Kim grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast before making a nice outlet to Todd, who tossed in the 3-pointer for a 17-9 lead with 6:20 left.
"We definitely focused on hitting that middle cut," Kim said. "Because once you get the ball in the middle, it's just go, three-on-two. We're a really fast team and we have been working on sharing the ball a lot and it's really nice to see all our hard work go into that pay off. That's all we work on, sharing the ball, sharing the ball. We go out fast and once we get down the middle, we're going."
After a great leaping rebound between defenders by McMillan, Thompson ended up tossing home a corner 3-pointer on the same possession for a 20-12 lead. Moments later, Todd fired home another 3-pointer for a 23-12 lead with 1:16 left until half.
Kim's fastbreak layup just prior to the halftime buzzer made it 25-14.
The Vikings then hit six 3-pointers in the third quarter, including three by Todd, two from McMillan and one from Bella Del Mar, to extend the lead to 51-24 going into the final period.
Laura Andriano (4 assists) and Dalia Grandberry (6 rebounds, 2 blocks) led RM with 7 points each while Osterhues (2 assists) and Abby Ramel (3 rebounds) each chipped in 6 points.
"I thought we obviously ran into a team that shot the ball really well," said Mustangs coach Ryan Kirkorsky. "But that was only part of it. They played great at both ends, offensively and defensively."