Fremd's on target in victory over Barrington
What looked like a showdown in Palatine on Friday night between Fremd and Barrington turned out to be a one-sided affair.
The Broncos turned the ball over 7 times in the first quarter. Fremd scored 9 points off of the miscues in building momentum toward a 52-36 win in Mid-Suburban West boys basketball.
Fremd led 15-6 after one quarter and increased that margin to 14, leading 27-13 at halftime.
Fremd continued its chase of Conant by improving to 13-4 and 3-1 in conference play. The Broncos dropped to 9-8 and 1-3 in the division.
"It's hard to come back after a start like that," said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker. "We had some good looks but we didn't finish a lot of the plays. They (Fremd) shot the ball well all night."
The Broncos turned the ball over 14 times to Fremd's 12 but scored 7 points off of the turnovers.
Barrington shot 16 of 40 for 40 percent while Fremd connected on 21 of 37 shots, including nine 3s, for an impressive 57 percent.
Will Reinhard was the only double-digit scorer for Barrington with 13 points and 5 rebounds.
Senior guard Payton Kim co-led Fremd with 11 points along with Patrick Benka. Both had three 3s.
Fremd received 9 points from both Ryan Martin and Brian Dompke. Kyle Sliwa added 7 points with Connor Simios adding 5 points from the bench.
"We don't have stars on this team," said Kim. "What we have is a lot of players who work hard and do things on and off the court to help us win. We really band together. When we've had a loss we go out together and have dinner the next day and talk about why we lost, and then we seem to have really good practices.
"Tonight was important to get off to a good start. I think we did a good job in defending the post."
Fremd coach Bob Widlowski was pleased with the balance scoring and the overall team play.
"One of the first things I noticed in the score book was the balanced scoring," said Widlowski. "I thought we rebounded well. With Benka in foul trouble in the second quarter, Samson (Oladimeji) came off the bench and got us 5 rebounds. Connor Simios hit a nice 3-point basket for us in the third quarter when we had been stuck on a number for awhile. Those turnovers we converted on helped us get off to a fast start."
Widlowski shed some praise on Kim for his steady play.
"He has used his experience from last year to build on this year," said Widlowski. "He's had some buzzer-beater wins for us this year. He has really worked hard to make himself a better player. He gives us energy, handles the ball well and plays good defense."
"I want to be a leader on this team," said Kim. "I like talking to the other players on the bench and on the floor to help make the team better."
Friday night everything fell into place.