Fremd, Buffalo Grove get wins

Balance and defense propelled Fremd to a 61-30 nonconference boys basketball win over Carmel on Saturday night in Palatine.

The Vikings (13-8) had all the points they needed at halftime with a 35-19 lead in their third straight win. Nate Serviss tied for game-high scoring honors with 12 points and helped limit 6-foot-5 Carmel senior Brandon Motzel to 3 points in limited minutes.

"He did a real good job on him in the first half and at the start of the third quarter," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said of the 6-4 Serviss. "It was a good team defensive effort for the most part."

Sean Benka (12 points), Adam Gorecki (10 points), Garrett Peters (9 points) and Riley Glassman (8 points) helped Fremd to its third-highest point total of the season. Joe Molloy led Carmel (7-11) with 8 points and two 3-pointers.

Buffalo Grove 49, Niles West 39: Andrew Apel's offense and Sam Wacker's defense helped Buffalo Grove (9-12) rally from a 24-14 halftime deficit to win the nonconference game at Niles West (3-14).

"We had some decent shots in the first half but their pressure defensively really bothered us," BG coach Ryan O'Connor said after his team's fourth straight win. "We played pretty good defense ourselves and that kept us within striking distance.

"The shot chart told the story. We shot a lot of shots around the basket in the second half."

O'Connor said Apel took control in the third quarter and the 6-foot-7 Wacker's shot blocking was a big part of the second-half turnaround.

Stevenson 65, Palatine 46: Jordan Jarrett (12 points) and John Millin (10 points) led Palatine (2-19) in the nonconference home loss. Michael Fleming scored 16 for Stevenson (12-8), which led 35-18 at halftime and 59-30 after three.