Fremd wraps up seventh straight Mid-Suburban West title
Back in 2010, Jenna Simios was a 12-year-old watching the Fremd girls varsity basketball games.
She probably could never have imagined that one day she'd be a senior for the Vikings celebrating a record seventh straight Mid-Suburban West title.
Let alone on her 18th birthday.
And with a career-high 9 points.
"It was fun to watch (as a young girl) and now fun to be part of," said Simios, who also grabbed 4 rebounds as the No. 2 team in Class 4A rolled past visiting Schaumburg 83-22 on 'Feeder Night' in the Vikings' gymnasium.
Immediately after the game, the aspiring Fremd basketball players got to meet the varsity Vikings in the back gym.
They were chatting with the girls who have led Fremd to a 22-2 record and 9-0 in the West, three games better than runners-up Schaumburg (15-9, 6-3) and Barrington (11-12, 6-3).
Fremd will host MSL East champion Buffalo Grove (21-4, 9-0) in the MSL championship game next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
"It seems like just yesterday I was playing in my first one," said Vikings senior guard Brianna Lewis (11 points, 7 assists, 3 steals), who had the winning 3-pointer for Fremd in the 2013 title game at Rolling Meadows. "It's been a long road and we are still climbing the mountain. We've done a remarkable job and I'm so proud of my team. It sounds crazy that it's my senior year but this been a great journey with these girls."
It's been a lot of 'girls' as coach Dave Yates goes deep on his bench in most games.
Thirteen made in into the scoring column on Tuesday, nine in first half as Fremd raced to a 42-2 lead with more than three minutes left in the second quarter.
Simios scored one of her three buckets in the second quarter.
"We've been playing well as a team and we wanted to come out with a lot of intensity and keep it up with the bench. We didn't want to let down."
Simios and classmate Lauren Glaser (9 points) made sure that wasn't going to happen.
Glaser stepped into the game and hit a pair of 3-pointers in the opening period.
"When we have kids coming off the bench like Lauren and Jenna and knocking down shots, games like this are going to happen," said Fremd coach Dave Yates, whose club was coming off an 80-26 win over Barrington.
"We've kind of hit stride and are playing at a nice clip. We challenged our kids about five games ago to play complete quarters. and it's nice to see them respond to that."
Other scoring leaders for the Vikes were Bryana Hopkins (11 points, 3 rebounds), Grace Tworek (10 points, 5 steals, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocked shots), Erin Lenahan (6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals) Julia Wacker (7 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 blocked shots, 3 assists), Midori Williams (6 points, 3 rebounds and Missy Adrian (4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists). Hayley Williams (3 rebounds), Amanda McCartney (3 pointer) and Anna LaValle also made it in the scoring column for Fremd.
Schaumburg was led by junior Mallory Gerber (11 points).
"Fremd executed well on both ends of the floor," said Saxons coach Curtis Goodwin. "Hats of to them.
"They have no holes. They have playmakers, height and shooters. They have everything you need to make a good basketball team. And they have the combination of hard work and talent. There just aren't any weaknesses."