Fremd heads home in super shape
Every senior on Fremd's No. 1-ranked Class 4A girls basketball team had one goal in mind on Thursday night.
A last appearance on their home floor.
With a terrific defensive stand on the floor of the No. 1 Class 4A boys basketball team in 2015 (Stevenson), the Vikings got their wish with a slowly-but-surely, grind-it-out 45-25 triumph over No. 6-seeded Zion-Benton in the sectional championship in Lincolnshire.
Top-seeded Fremd (28-2) returns to Palatine on Monday night at 7 p.m. to face Huntley (30-3) for the second year in a row in a supersectional. Fremd won 50-34 at the Hoffman Estates supersectional a year ago.
"The fact that we get to play in our home gym is absolutely amazing," said Vikings 6-foot-2 senior forward Bryana Hopkins, the Mid-Suburban League West Player of the Year who played like she wanted to get back home with 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. "We are all so excited and can't wait to get back to our own gym with all our fans there. It's awesome."
It's Fremd's second time playing in back-to-back supersectionals, having done likewise in 1998 and 1999 under coach Carol Plodzien.
"It's super exciting to play on our home floor one last time," said senior starter Amanda McCartney (2 assists), who will play on the Elmhurst College floor as a Blue Jay next winter.
McCartney's 3-pointer in the first quarter was part of a 12-2 run that put Fremd ahead 13-4.
Zion wouldn't go away, though.
Trailing 15-6 after a free throw by Hopkins with 5:50 left in the half, the Zee-Bees fought back to within 21-15 at intermission.
Two free throws to start the third quarter by senior Ledallia Maggett (team-high 8 points) got Z-B to within 21-17.
After Fremd senior Erin Lenahan (3 steals) answered with bucket, Zion's Krystal Walker (7 points) scored on a breakaway layup to make it 23-19 with 5:20 left.
That's as close as the Zee-Bees got.
Fremd turned up the defensive pressure and finished the period on a 10-0 run, including a 3-pointer from the top of the key by junior Grace Tworek.
Senior Brianna Lewis' free throw with 43.8 seconds left in the quarter made it 30-19.
Lewis finished with a game-high 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, while the 6-2 Tworek added 4 points, 3 steals and 2 rebounds. Another 6-foot-2 forward, Julia Wacker (3 rebounds), hit a key 3-pointer in the second quarter.
"Our girls battled but we were outsized," said Zion's Tanya Johnson, one of the winningest coaches in Illinois with 712 victories and two state titles in her time at Loyola. "But give all the credit to Fremd's defense (which held Zion under double digits in every quarter).
"I don't know of anyone who has been successful attacking their pressure. And our kids haven't been in this kind of position before, whereas Fremd has."
The Zee-Bees went from the No. 17 seed last year to No. 6 this season.
"We got beat by a better team," Johnson said "We would have had to play a perfect game to win. But it's all good. We're 23-8, and I'm proud of these girls. You see how small we are (tallest starter is Walker at 5-8).
"It's really hard against their length. Honestly, I felt were a little intimidated because we were not really attacking in the first half. But what can you do trying to shoot a layup against someone 6-foot-2?"
Four-time defending Mid-Suburban champion Fremd knew what to do in the second half to pull away from the pesky Zee-Bees.
"I think it was being composed and calm with the ball because they were a very athletic team," McCartney said.
"In the first half, our defense wasn't where we wanted it," Hopkins added "Coming into the second half, we knew we had to execute better and stick to them on defense."
Free throw shooting was one of the few issues for the Vikes, who converted 18 of 32.
"We had to shoot better at the free throw line if we wanted to see the score keep going up," said Fremd coach Dave Yates, who will take a 222-83 career record over 10 seasons into Monday's supersectional.
"I thought our size eventually wore them down," Yates said. "And we did a pretty good job handling their pressure because I've seen them destroy some teams with it."
The Zee-Bees were also plagued by foul trouble.
Tanner fouled out and Maggett, one of the most dangerous scorers in Lake County, missed several minutes due to fouls.
"With her sitting out, it's tough because we prepare a lot on things we run around her," Johnson said. "But our kids kept battling.
"I told them it was a great season They were able to come so far from a year ago. I felt after our loss to St. Viator (53-46 in the championship of the Lions' Blenner Holiday Classic in late December), things turned around. The girls started maturing and listening. It's been a real journey and I'm really proud of them."
The Zee-Bees had problems cracking the Vikings' zone defense.
"They were in a zone and we couldn't rotate the ball that well," Walker said. "Their lead went from 6 to 10 points and then things kid of fell apart and we couldn't get it back together."
Leaving the Fremd seniors together (Hopkins, Lewis, Lenahan, McCartney, Wacker, Lauren Glaser, Jenna Simios) for one final time on their home floor Monday.