Fremd meets the challenge at Palatine

In a win-or-else situation, Fremd's boys basketball team answered the bell with a purpose.

The Vikings came out strong against crosstown rival Palatine on Friday and led for all but the first 1:17 in a 57-46 Mid-Suburban West victory.

The victory allows Fremd to keep pace with division-leading Conant, but the Vikings need to win their final two games and for Conant to drop its last two games to tie for the division title.

After trailing 2-0, Fremd took control the game. Patrick Benka scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the first half, 7 in each quarter. The 6-8 Benka and 6-5 Brian Dompke (11 points) were a strong duo on offense as well as on the glass, as Fremd finished with a 27-15 rebounding advantage.

Fremd (17-6, 6-2) led 18-10 after the first quarter and 31-15 at halftime, making 11 of 24 field goal attempts while holding Palatine to 7 of 22 from the field.

"I thought we came out with energy and focus," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. "I'm pleased with the way we executed our game plan."

Part of that plan was to clamp down defensively on Palatine, and the Vikings did what Widlowski had hoped for.

"They have to stay in front of them, and I thought we did a good job of that," Widlowski said.

But it was Benka's scoring that most impressed his coach.

"Patrick set the tone for us offensively, and it came in the framework of the offense," Widlowski said. "It gave us a boost."

"Just because it's Palatine, we wanted to leave it all on the court," Benka said. "We executed and really ran our game plan well.

"(Assistant) coach (Mike) Brown emphasized staying in front of the ball on defense."

"I thought the game was won in the first half," Palatine coach Eric Millstone said. "They outhustled us, out executed us and outcoached us, and I'll put that on me.

"We talked a lot about winning the one-on-one battles on offense and defense, and I thought Fremd won the individual battles," Millstone said. "Fremd is a very fundamentally sound team, especially on defense, and what you get, you have to work for."

The Pirates (15-10, 4-4) were able to cut into the lead in the fourth quarter when Fremd went through a cold spell at the foul line. During a stretch when the Vikings were missing 5 straight from the line, Palatine was chipping away at what started as a 40-29 deficit at the start of the quarter.

Jovone Stricker scored 6 of his 9 points in the fourth quarter, and the Pirates crept to within 50-43. But Fremd found its free throw touch down the stretch, making 7 of its next 10 to ice the game.

Matt Ulrich led Palatine with 14 points, 13 in the second half, and Chris Refka also scored 9 for the Pirates. Ryan Martin scored 9 for Fremd.