Fremd dumps Auburn for 3rd at Elgin

Fremd started fast, and finished strong on Saturday at the 35th Annual Pepsi/Daily Herald Elgin Holiday Tournament.

Fremd scored a combined 49 points in the first and fourth quarters on its way to a 66-55 win over Auburn.

It was no coincidence that Fremd senior forward Chris Klimek did most of his offensive damage in those quarters while piling up a game-high 27 points and 9 rebounds.

"After my last game, it feels really, really good, because my last game was ugly," Klimek, who scored 17 of his points in the first and fourth quarters, said. "It feels good to get back into that, and hopefully we can make another 10 or so game run without another loss."

The Vikings were able to bounce back after their first loss of the year to Nequa Valley in the semifinals on Wednesday, and a break for the holiday, to earn third place in the tournament.

"Our guys were disappointed they were not in the championship game. I think they had big expectations for that," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. "But I think they did a nice job bouncing back for (Saturday's) game."

While disappointed in not getting the opportunity to play for the tournament title, Klimek was happy the Vikings came away with third - citing the Vikings new 11-1 record sounds a whole lot better than 10-2.

"Everyone wants to win a championship," Klimek said. "We thought we could. But it feels good to get back with a win and keep going forward."

Guards Quinn Williams (11 points) and Zach Monaghan (10 points, 5 assists) played contributing roles in the Viking offense, but it was Klimek leading the way all night.

"He's been very consistent for us," Widlowski said of Klimek. "He also got some big baskets for us. When we had a hard time scoring, he stepped up and got some baskets for us."

After Fremd's hot start - it outscored the Knights 27-11 in the first quarter - Auburn (8-4) slowly climbed back in the game, and even had the Viking lead down to 6 points, but it would get no closer.

"We dug ourselves an enormous hole," Auburn coach Bryan Ott said. "On the offensive end, the shot decisions we came out with in the first quarter were really horrendous. We played into their hands by jacking up some of the shots on the perimeter that we did."

Joseph Danforth paced the Knights with 23 points, while Fred VanVleet and Anthony Strickland each had 10.