Schaumburg goes OT to continue hex on Fremd

Schaumburg managed just 28 points through three quarters in its Mid-Suburban West boys basketball battle at Fremd on Friday night.

In the fourth quarter, and the overtime period that followed, though, the Saxons scored 32 points to come away with a 60-55 victory.

"We don't give up. We never have," Schaumburg coach Matt Walsh said. "We've faced some adversity this year. I thought we showed a lot of toughness. I thought we showed a lot of character."

Schaumburg (9-9, 5-2) ended a three-game losing streak in overtime games that included last Saturday's heartbreaker in the final second to Lockport.

It was also the Saxons' second overtime win of the season and put them in a three-way tie for first with Fremd (13-7, 5-2) and Barrington (15-6, 5-2).

A 17-7 run in the first 4:38 of the fourth quarter sparked the Saxons to a 45-43 lead.

But it took two made free throws by sophomore guard Kyle Bolger with 4.3 seconds remaining, and Fremd's home crowd roaring, for the Saxons to get the game to overtime, after Zach Monaghan missed a shot at the buzzer to win it.

"Free throws, we practice that every day," Bolger said. "It was just focus on the shot, and finish."

Bolger was in foul trouble most of the game, but was finally able to play substantial minutes in the fourth quarter, where he scored 9 of his 14 points.

"In the fourth quarter we came out with a lot of intensity, and a lot of heart," Bolger said of the Saxons' third straight win over Fremd. "We wanted the game, and we came out with it."

Sophomore center Jimmy Lundquist hit a 3-pointer on the Saxons' first overtime possession to help continue their momentum over to the extra frame.

Lundquist, Bolger, and senior forward Kurt Kempema (8 points) helped pick up the Saxons' offense normally driven by senior guard Javon McDonald. McDonald finished the game with a 10 points, but didn't sink his first field goal until late in the fourth quarter.

"Not just the end of the game, but at the end of the third quarter, when they got some easy looks on offense, I thought we could have really extended our lead at that point, and we didn't," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. "That put us in that situation at the end of the game."

In the fourth quarter Fremd made just 4 of its 9 free throw attempts. Monaghan scored a game-high 19 points for the Vikings and senior forward Jack Konopka added 10 points and 8 rebounds.