Fremd proves it’s how you finish that counts
Fremd started slow but finished strong Saturday night at Palatine.
The Vikings fell behind by 11 points late in the opening quarter, then survived a bit of foul trouble in the third quarter before squeezing out a tough 56-48 Mid-Suburban West boys basketball victory over the host Pirates.
“We knew we’d be in for a battle tonight,” said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski, whose team kept sole possession of first place in the West. “They came out with a little more energy than we did, but we did good job of weathering that first storm, then getting the lead and keeping it.”
Senior Zach Monaghan paced the Vikings by scoring 13 points, adding 6 steals and blocking a shot.
Senior Jack Konopka sat for most the third quarter because of foul trouble, but he finished with a game-high 16 points and 8 rebounds.
“We’ve been starting out sluggish all year,” said Monaghan, whose team fell behind 17-6 with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter. “We’re a good team playing from behind, but we’re even better when we’re ahead.”
Monaghan gave Fremd (13-6, 5-1) its first lead when he converted 2 free throws after a steal to lift the Vikings to a 28-26 halftime advantage.
Junior Garrett Peters, playing his first game because of a broken foot, came off the bench to score 11 points. His basket midway through the third quarter pushed the Vikings to a 35-30 advantage.
Palatine (7-12, 2-4) responded with a 3-point basket by Austin Marrison (11 points) and a basket from Egan Malley (8 points) to tie the score at 35-35 with 43 seconds remaining in the third.
But the Vikings answered when Monaghan converted a steal into 3 points on a basket and free throw to end the quarter. Konopka added 2 quick baskets and a free throw to start the fourth quarter that increased the lead to 8 points.
Peter Bony nailed a 3-pointer with 2:20 remaining to narrow the Pirates’ deficit to 48-45, but the Vikings went 8-of-14 from the free-throw line in the final quarter to secure the victory.
“We’re a tough team,” said Fremd senior guard Quinton Brown, who went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final quarter. “We know how to keep our composure and play basketball just like we know how to do.”
Junior John Millin added 11 points for Palatine, and Josh Baldus played tough under the basket.
“We’ll take each game as a learning day and hopefully start closing some of those games out,” said Pirates coach Eric Millstone, “The effort was good, but they just made some more plays down the stretch.”