Hoffman lives up to motto

The Hoffman Estates boys basketball team would like to live up to its three-letter motto every game.

H.S.T.

"Coach (Bill Wandro) likes to say 'HST' for play hard, play smart and play together,' said Hawks senior guard Kemill Long. "That statement has been around here for the Hoffman Estates boys basketball team for a long time."

For most of the time Friday night at Fremd, Wandro saw his team adhering to its theme with a 55-40 triumph in the Mid-Suburban West opener.

"Expect for the final minutes of third quarter and the first few of the fourth where I didn't think we handled our lead well, I thought we had eight guys all playing hard and doing good things," Wandro said.

Eight straight points by Long - a 3-pointer, a 3-point play and steal and layup - gave Hoffman (4-0, 1-0) a 43-20 lead with 3:18 left in the third.

The Vikings (0-4, 0-1) closed to within 45-35 with 3:47 left before Long hit another 3 and Fremd never got within double digits.

"When we got to within 10, we had an opportunity to close the gap, but that was a big 3-pointer by Long," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski.

"We weren't worried at that point, just a little frustrated," Long said. "We need to get a good start and good finish. We have to keep extending the lead further."

Long finished with a season- and game-high 15 points and 3 assists.

"He's a scorer," Wandro said of Long. "He has that one gear. And when he can get hot, he's phenomenal."

Hawks senior guard Luke Mead added 14 points (all in the first half) and 3 assists while junior Kevin Tiongson added 11. Top rebounders for the Hawks were Chis Hall (5), Brandon Fischer (3) and Tom Dombrowski (3).

"Brandon (6 points) had another stellar game," Wandro said. "He's been a pleasant surprise. Kevin (Tiongson) has been doing a great job as a junior point guard. We are able to move Luke off the point and give him more touches."

Joey Depaolis's 3 gave Fremd a 7-3 advantage and the Vikings closed the first quarter with a 3-pointer from Dan Bruno to lead 14-12.

But Mead hit back to-back driving layups to spark a 14-2 run and Hoffman never looked back. A layup by Hall made it 26-16 with 3:40 left in the half.

"I thought we played well in the first quarter," Widlowski said. "We moved the ball well. After that, Hoffman did a good job taking us out of the things we wanted to run."

Bruno (11 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds), Will Reising (9 points) and Chris Klimek (8 points, 5 rebounds) led Fremd.