Fremd sophomore Klimek can certainly take the heat

As one of only two sophomores on the varsity, Fremd's Chris Klimek is used to catching some grief from his teammates.

After scoring a career-high 20 points in the Vikings' 63-40 nonconference boys basketball win over Leyden on Saturday, his teammates really let him have it.

One Viking playfully told Klimek to pass the ball.

Another swore that Klimek had stolen one of his points. The 6-foot-4 forward just smiled through the abuse.

"They do it all the time because I'm the sophomore," Klimek said after adding 8 rebounds and 2 assists. "I'm the young one. So I get it all the time."

Klimek got plenty of help from Dan Bruno (12 points), Jim Mundt (8 points, 3 steals), Dan Itami (7 points) and Alex Weis (7 points), who helped Fremd (9-12) charge out to a 14-0 lead in Northlake.

The Vikings led 22-8 after one quarter and extended that edge to 32-12 midway through the second.

"We just started to click," Klimek said. "We felt it before the game. Then we came out and got some early steals and put backs."

Fremd led 41-18 at halftime after shooting 56 percent in the first half while holding Leyden to 28 percent from the field.

The Eagles (4-17) outscored Fremd 10-9 in the third quarter but couldn't overcome a 29-20 rebounding deficit.

"They annihilated us on the glass," said Leyden coach Bill Heisler. "That's been our Achilles' heel the whole year. We're going to have to rebound the basketball if we want to win."

Further hampering the Eagles was the absence of senior point guard Joe Natale, who hurt his knee in Friday's loss to Downers Grove South.

"With him being gone we lost a lot of leadership," said Leyden junior Deron Guyton (15 points). "I talked to him before the game. I was telling him that he needs to come back as soon as he can. But he's all right. He should be back in the next week or so."