Fremd bounces back

After suffering its first loss to Rolling Meadows on Tuesday night, the Fremd girls basketball team couldn’t wait to redeem itself on Friday.

“We really wanted to pick things up after the Meadows game,” said Vikings senior Jamie Groot. “We wanted to show what we were made of.”

Groot made a big difference in Fremd’s Mid-Suburban West opener on Friday night, scoring a season-high 16 points in the Vikings’ 54-42 win at Barrington.

“Like I said before the season, I thought we had a lot of kids who can shoot the ball and score,” said Fremd coach Dave Yates. “And it was Jamie’s turn tonight. She did a nice job knocking down the open shot.”

Groot scored in every quarter, including a 3-pointer in the second, which put Fremd ahead for good at 19-16 and triggered an 11-2 run.

Junior Jessi Wiedemann’s 14-foot swish with 2:58 left in the first quarter gave Fremd (6-1, 1-0) a 10-2 lead and it would never trail.

Wiedemann (14 points) and Megan Gray (4 points) helped lead the Vikings on the boards. Ashley McConnell contributed 11 points for the defending MSL West champs while Bridget Kubis and Sarah Power each added 5.

“We got caught in a real grinder with Rolling Meadows,” Yates said. “We wanted to play up-tempo this game and we did a good job setting the tone with our pressure.”

Barrington senior guard Abby Kirchoff led the Fillies (4-3, 0-1) with 15 points while junior Nicole Collins added 9 and senior Brooke Chandor 8.

“We just didn’t show up in any way, shape or form,” said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro, who is only one win away from 300 for her career. “Fremd played a good game but we are a better team than this.

“This is the second time now we have lost because of a slow start. This is a senior-laden group that has to do better.”

Fremd converted 15-of-20 free throws, led by Wiedemann’s 5-of-5.

Barrington made 5-of-6 but Barreiro was disappointed in her team’s shooting from the field.

“I can’t imagine what our shooting percentage was but I know it was not good,” said Barreiro, whose team missed its first 7 shots before Shelby Whigham’s putback made it 6-2. “And Fremd played great defense. That’s a tough combination to overcome.

“We are capable of better basketball. We have to get everyone on the same page on the same night.”