Fremd 43, Hoffman Estates 37

The letters "m" and "e" are in the middle of Fremd.

But Vikings girls basketball coach Dave Yates saw no "me" in his team's 46-37 triumph over visiting Hoffman Estates on Friday in the Mid-Suburban West battle.

"This was one of our more unselfish games," said Yates, whose team improved to 13-9 and 6-2, tied for second with Schaumburg in the West behind leader Conant (7-1). "We passed the ball well, found the open person and then hit the shots."

Sophomore Taylor Glassman hit two big back-to-back 3-pointers in the third quarter when the Vikings pulled away to a 40-27 lead, their biggest of the game.

Hoffman (17-7, 2-6) got to within 42-35 on a 10-footer by Carol King with 42 seconds left, but Glassman, Dani Videka and Lauren Zaworski then hit free throws to close out Fremd's scoring.

Glassman scored 15 of her game-high 20 points in the second half.

Junior Megan Fischer, the Hawks top scorer at 19 ppg, finished with 8 points, two behind freshman teammate Jada Stotts (10). Megan Evans added 6 points for the Hoffman.

Zaworski was responsible for coverage on Fischer.

"I've been playing with Lauren since fourth grade, she's a defensive stopper," Glassman said. "She did a great job and stay composed."

"I can't say enough good things about Lauren's defensive play," Yates added. "It's not only her hustle and little things, but she is a smart defender. She knows her opponent's strength and takes advantage of the weaknesses. We also had great defense from everyone else, too."

Sophomore Gianna Abruzzo had two big baskets for Fremd early in the fourth quarter to help the Vikings pull away.

Sam Thelin and Melissa Castles each tossed in 3-pointers for the winners.

Megan Bernardoni did not play for Hoffman because of a twisted ankle. Coach Mike Nocella expects to have the 5-10 sophomore back for Tuesday's game against Palatine.

"We didn't come out as focused as were against Schaumburg (51-50) win on Tuesday night," he said. "When they pressed us early, we gave them some easy turnovers and fell behind (10-1).

"The same thing happened to us at the end of the game. Fremd is a good team and very well coached. The game got a little physical but you've got to go with the flow."

Videka stressed the unselfish attitude by Fremd.

"We just play team basketball," she said. "That's what is really important."

"We're very excited to be in this position," Glassman said about the conference race. "But we just have to play our games one at a time and not worry about anything else."

Fremd travels to Barrington on Tuesday.