Boys basketball: Fremd steps past Stevenson and into another home game
Rafael Pinto and Fremd made sure that they would be home on Friday.
Pinto scored 17 points of his 25 points in the first half as Fremd blew past Stevenson 74-65 Tuesday in the sectional semifinal at Fremd in Palatine.
The win moved the top-seeded Vikings (28-2) into Friday’s sectional final against Hersey at 7 p.m.
“A fast start has been a big emphasis this year,” said Pinto, who also had 8 rebounds. “My teammates were looking for me and I was able to score. It has been our goal since playing at Schaumburg last week to be playing at home this Friday.”
Fremd left little doubt against fourth-seeded Stevenson (21-11) as the Vikings built a 41-20 halftime lead.
“We came ready to play and executed the scouting report,” Fremd coach Mike Brown said. “Stevenson is a really good team. It’s great to be able to play Friday. That what you work for. It is an awesome experience for us and our school. We are excited about it.”
The Vikings used three strong runs to blow the game open in the first half.
Fremd led 8-7 midway through the first quarter thanks to five steals. The Vikings used 3-pointers by Chase Nelson and Jordan Williams as the foundation of an 8-0 run to lead 16-7.
Stevenson closed to 16-12 at the end of the first quarter. But the Vikings went to work again.
Pinto and Williams combined for all 10 of Fremd’s next points. That was all the Vikings needed as they used a 10-3 run to open up a 26-14 advantage early in the second quarter.
Fremd led 33-20 with 2:22 left in the first half when the Vikings were at it again. They scored the final eight points of the half, including a long-range 3 by Williams at the buzzer to make it 41-20.
“We came out firing,” said Williams, who finished with. 24 points. “We have had times like this before this year. We just got to keep following up on that. We just let loose a little bit.”
Stevenson got closer in the second half thanks to nine 3-pointers. But the Patriots never did any better than the final score.
“They are a really good team,” Stevenson coach Will Benson said of Fremd. “And when they play really good, they are a hard team to beat. But I was impressed with our kids. They could have quit at halftime down 21 on the road. I was just happy with the fight in our guys.”
Pagliocca, who ends his senior season as the only Stevenson player to win a regional title in all four varsity campaigns, led the Patriots with 23 points on five 3-pointers. Donny Williams, who had five 3-pointers, also had 23 points while Quinton Frakes added 10 points.
Tommy Moffett added 8 points for Fremd while Nelson had 7 and Ricardo Zambrano had 6 points.