Hoffman win puts MSL West up for grabs

Mike Nocella capped off his 65th birthday in style Friday night.

The Hoffman Estates girls basketball coach watched his Hawks battle their way into a three-way tie for first-place in the Mid-Suburban West with a tense 42-39 victory over visiting Fremd.

Using a zone defense all the way to the final 10 seconds when they switched to a man-to-man, the Hawks (15-4, 4-1) held on for their 11th win in 12 games.

The Hoffman offense got a boost from junior reserve Tanya Skworch, who hit a 17-footer with 5:41 left in the game for a 32-30 lead the Hawks would never relinquish.

That big shot, which came off a steal and assist from senior guard Kelsey Lukowicz, sparked a 9-1 run capped by junior Jada Stotts' 3-pointer which made it 37-31 with 3:40 left.

"I thought that shot by Skworch really put them on their heels," said Nocella, whose team is tied for first with Fremd (14-6, 4-1) and Barrington (11-7, 4-1). "I thought we played stellar defense all the way and the kids worked really hard.

"Overall, all seven kids played their hearts out. We got nice help off the bench from Tanya and Destinee Young when we had kids in foul trouble. Our freshman (Young, who scored 6 big points) is really coming along."

Stotts finished with a game-high 15 points while Lukowicz and Megan Bernardoni also had 6. Teammate Precious Ogunleye (4 points) helped on the boards and Mary Pettit chipped in 3 points.

"We knew if we lost this one, we would have had to depend on other teams," Stotts said. "And we didn't want to have to do that."

Two free throws by Fremd senior Gianna Abruzzo made it 42-39 with 4.9 seconds left.

The Vikings forced a held ball and retrieved possession in the Hawks' end with 1.9 seconds left. But Hoffman blocked a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"We went with zone all way until the end when we played man because we didn't want them hitting a 3-pointer," Stotts said. "This game was really about our defense. We've been focusing on it all season."

Lukowicz handed out 4 assists.

"Fremd is a good team and you have to give them a lot of credit," Lukowicz added. "This is awesome to get into a tie for first. We just have to keep to playing as a team."

Fremd, which led 11-6 in the first quarter after a 3-pointer by junior Bridget Kubis, was led by Taylor Glassman (11 points, 3 3-pointers), Abruzzo (10 points) and Megan Gray (10 points).

"It just got a little more interesting," said Fremd coach Dave Yates referring to the conference race. "I think they just had one more run (9-1 midway through the fourth quarter) than us. We answered all the other ones.

"We had our moments. We got some really good looks and knocked down some shots, especially in the first half (led 21-20 at the break). Unfortunately, we had 20 turnovers. So we lost 20 shots by being sloppy."