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Loyola knocks off Fremd

Fremd, which trailed Loyola 24-15 at half, has been a third-quarter team all season.

Less than two minutes into the second half, Vikings junior Olivia Hill drove for a layup that cut the margin to 26-23.

Just when it seemed that third-quarter magic was there again, Loyola made sure its lead didn't disappear.

The Ramblers (19-5) went on a 15-2 run and never looked back in a 55-38 triumph over the Vikings (20-4) at the 29th annual Coach Kipp's Hoopsfest at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park.

"We missed a lot of layups and had too many turnovers but the biggest thing is we didn't have the miraculous third quarter," said Fremd coach Dave Yates, whose club is ranked No. 4 in Class 4A. "We've been digging ourselves a hole in games and then we come out like gangbusters in the third quarter, which we did for about the first two minutes.

"But they had an answer. We just couldn't get the stops we needed to pull it back our way."

Junior Emily Klaczek led the Vikings with 12 points followed by Hill (11) and Angie Zara (8). Hill also pulled down a team-high 5 rebounds.

"Olivia had some nice drives to the basket," Yates said. "And Angie gave us a nice lift when we needed it. We had some runs and I thought both those kids gave us chance to tighten up the game.

"Loyola is not an easy team to play catch-up against. You don't want to be down double digits to them in the second half."

Loyola was up double digits late in the second quarter at 24-13 before Zara made a big sweeping move around two defenders for a running 8-footer that made it a 9-point game at half.

"We knew going into this game that we were playing a strong team" said Zara, the only senior on the Vikings' roster. "We knew we couldn't let them outwork us. I think that happened but we're excited that we've got a game (Tuesday hosting Conant) and we can get right back at it."

The Vikings have been at it against strong Catholic programs like Loyola in six of their last nine games.

They had wins over Marian Catholic and Fenwick along with losses to Benet, Nazareth and Mother McAuley.

"We need games like these," Yates said. "This group needs to be challenged and put in a position where it's got to play better. Unfortunately, we didn't bring our best game."

"We've been playing good competition," Zara said. "Basically we haven't had the strongest starts to games but we've been able to come back. That's great but we have to start coming out stronger to begin games and limiting turnovers.

"These teams we've been playing are just relentless. They push the ball up the floor, score and they capitalize off your turnovers. We need to focus on coming out tough and taking care of the ball right away."

Senior Celia Satter and junior Addison Ebeling, playing her best game of the season, each had 15 points for Loyola while sophomore Summer Parker-Hall added 11.

"We gave up way too many layups," Yates said. "And we have to be able to defend the rim better and shoot better. That's a credit to Loyola, too. They're long, they've got length and they're really aggressive."

Saint Louis-bound senior Juliana Martinez had 10 points with 10 assists for the Ramblers.

"Juliana does such a great job finding others," said Loyola coach Jeremy Schoenecker of one of the state's all-time assists leader with more than 700 for her career.

"Fremd is a very good team," the Ramblers coach added. "All of Dave's teams are well-coached and it's going to be a battle every time you play them. We haven't played game in almost a week so our girls have been working real hard in practice for this game and it showed today."

  Fremd's Ella Burns, right, hits the deck chasing a loose ball with Loyola Academy's Juliana Martinez during Monday's girls basketball game in Villa Park. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
  Fremd's Grace LaBarge (4) and Brianna Wooldridge pressure Loyola Academy's Jordan Moser, right, during Monday's girls basketball game in Villa Park. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
  Fremd's Ruthie Montella (5) makes a falling attempt at a basket during Monday's girls basketball game against Loyola Academy in Villa Park. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
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