Showdown goes to Fremd

Fremd's girls basketball team has excelled in the third quarter nearly all season.

The Vikings may have outdone themselves in that period Saturday night at Hoffman Estates.

Trailing 25-18 at the break, the Vikings outscored the Hawks 14-5 in the next eight minutes and went on to edge Hoffman 47-45 in the Mid-Suburban West Division girls basketball showdown.

The Vikings (15-4) improved to 4-0 in the MSL West, increasing their lead to 2 games over the Hawks (12-5. 2-2), Conant (11-6, 2-2) and Barrington (12-6, 2-2).

"I think that was our best quarter (third) all season in terms of having all five players working together on the floor," said Vikings senior guard Bridget Kubis, who hit a big 3-pointer to cut the Hawks' lead to 28-27 with 3:20 left in the third quarter.

Senior Jaimie Groot then came up with a big steal and dished off to Kubis for a fastbreak layup which put Fremd ahead 29-28, the Vikings' first lead since 13-12 early in the second quarter.

"We were a little upset at half," Kubis said. "We knew we could do better. We were hungrier in that third quarter. We definitely stepped up."

Hoffman, though, wouldn't step down.

The Hawks tied the game at 38-38 when Becca Stoczynski drove for a 10-foot bank shot in the lane with 2:59 left in the game.

Sophomore Destinee Young's rebound bank shot tied it at 40-40 before Fremd nudged ahead for good at 41-40 on a free throw by Groot with 1:06 left.

Kubis and senior Sarah Power each converted a pair of free throws in the final 49 seconds to hike the lead to 45-40 with 21 seconds left.

A 3-point play by senior Jada Stotts (9 points, 3 assists) brought the Hawks to within 45-43 with 14.5 seconds left but Kubis (11 points) sealed the deal by making 2 more free throws with six seconds left.

Stotts hit an uncontested layup at the buzzer to make it 47-45.

"We have been very good at the free-throw line," said Fremd coach Dave Yates. "We're at about 80 percent. So once we got the lead, it was nice to be able to hold it with free throws."

McConnell led Fremd with 13 points while junior Jessi Wiedemann and Groot each added 7.

"We really pressured their perimeter in the third quarter," McConnell said. "We boxed out and were strong on the boards."

Young and Stoczynski were strong on the boards for Hoffman.

Young collected 8 rebounds with her 16 points while Stoczynski pulled down 8 rebounds while netting a game-high 17 points.

"Becca is really coming along," said Hoffman coach Mike Nocella of his 6-foot sophomore forward. "She has really earned her stripes the last few games."

Fremd made 14 of 22 free throws while Hoffman was 5-for-9.

"We put them on the free-throw line too much," Nocella added. "And we didn't get there as much.

"It still comes down to us panicking in the third quarter when there was no reason to. They picked up their pressure on us and we didn't respond."

Yates was in total agreement.

"The biggest thing was our attitude coming out in the third quarter," he said. "I thought our pressure took them out of the things they wanted to do. That was a credit to all our perimeter kids (McConnell, Wiedemann, Power and Kubis).

"We've been a third-quarter team all season. It says a lot about the kids that they respond in the second half."

<div id="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=417834">Images: Fremd vs. Hoffman Estates <span class="date">[01/08/11]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>