Boys basketball: Fremd wins 20th regional title
Rafael Pinto, Tommy Moffett, and Jordan Williams combined for 46 points as Fremd earned their 20th regional championship in school history with a 59-44 victory over Lake Zurich on Friday night in Schaumburg.
“Regional Championships are hard, especially against a team like Lake Zurich, who is a really tough, physical, aggressive, well coached team,” said Fremd coach Mike Brown.
“That was a great win for us and our kids played very well tonight against a very good team,” he added.
The regional title will be placed in a well stocked trophy case, as the Vikings (27-2, 9-1) claimed the Mid Suburban League title earlier this month.
“It's definitely special, you know, especially number 20,” said Williams, an Illinois State commit who was recently named the MSL West Player of the Year for the second straight season.
Their win tonight sets them up well heading into sectionals. The Vikings will host Stevenson in their home gym in the Sectional Semifinals on Tuesday.
“We really wanted this as a team, you know, for the program,” he added. “It's a lot of excitement — Everything's working in our favor. We got the advantage, so we just got to take advantage of it and keep working.”
Williams had 13 points against the Bears with 9 of them coming in the second half as Fremd pulled away. However, it was a tight game early on.
Lake Zurich (14-16, 6-8) trailed by one point after the first quarter, with seniors Adrian Riep and Kain Kretschmar chipping away at the Vikings defense.
Riep finished with 16 and knocked down a three pointer to make it 14-13 Fremd with 4:04 remaining in the half. Meanwhile, Kretschmar added 14.
“The gameplay was to try to get the balls of their hands, not let them get to their spots,” said Moffett. “[Riep] is really good down low. So we tried to drop defenses around that, but he's still got his buckets.”
The game remained close well into the first half. Moffett stepped up and became a difference maker as he found his rhythm from behind the arch.
He scored 9 of his 16 during a three point shooting outburst that gave the Vikings a 23-17 advantage heading into the intermission.
“His versatility is really big for us,” said Brown about Moffett, a recent MSL All-Conference selection. “He can do a lot of things out there. He can pass, he can take it to the basket. He can shoot three. So, he's a huge part of our team.”
Williams took over in the third, scoring 7 points. He took an inbound pass the length of the floor for a layup to make it 39-31 Vikings heading into the fourth.
Pinto went to work to close it out for Fremd. He added 7 of his game-high 17 in the eight minutes.
Another All-MSL selection, Pinto knocked down 5 of 6 fourth quarter free throws as the Vikings stretched their advantage.
Moffett threw down a dunk to close it out with just over a minute remaining.
“I haven't got one in a while, and to do it in front of my school, and, like, all my friends, it means a lot to me,” said the senior.
“You gotta enjoy it tonight, but then we'll be right back to work,” he added.
For Lake Zurich coach Terry Coughlin, the loss was a tough one. But he was proud of his entire senior group, led by Riep, Kretschmar, who are currently being recruited by Division III schools.
“It's hard for me to put [it] into words,” said Coughlin, who completes his eighth season leading the Bears. “As a coach, what you ask for your players is to trust you implicitly, to trust that you're gonna push the right buttons, and they've allowed me to be hard on them.”
His senior class was part of a regional championship for Lake Zurich during the 2023-2024 season and also included Evan Peterson, Zach Bonelli-Schultz, Tyler Reed, Brian Bennett, Jacob Hempfling, and Reid Pfeifer, who also played quarterback for the Bears.
“They've believed in the vision we created for them, believed in the vision we created for this program. And they live it every single day — When you have guys that believe in what you're trying to do as a coach and the vision you have for the program, that is priceless.”