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Lyons Township stuns Fremd

So, you're Lyons Township girls basketball coach Megan Hutchens and your team gets an 8 a.m. game the day after Christmas against one of the state's premier programs in Fremd. How do you practice for that game?

"First, the two days before this we practiced really early and then we actually got them up really early today and ran them through about a 45-minute practice before we even got on the bus," Hutchens said. "Just to get them moving to get them to wake up. We wanted to make sure that they stayed awake, that they were ready."

Perhaps that served as the equivalent of a cup of coffee which provided just enough of a boost for the Lions to hold off the Vikings 49-42 in the opening game of 11th annual Montini Christmas Tournament Thursday morning in Lombard.

The victory sends Lyons to a 3 p.m. quarterfinal against Lake Forest Friday afternoon. The Scouts (12-2) bested Nazareth (9-3) 47-36 in Thursday morning's second opening round game.

The Lions (6-5) captured their third straight win and fourth in their last five games. Thursday's game marked the first time all season LT had its complete 16 player roster available after suffering a rash of injuries during its first 10 games.

"It feels good," Hutchens said. "We started the season off rough, (however) it allows more kids to get opportunities and to be placed in a tougher position, so now when it comes down to these tough games, everyone has already seen it, we've already been through it and I'm just proud of our girls."

Lyons went on an 11-0 run over the final 6:25 of the first half, erasing an 8-point Fremd lead that left LT up 23-20 at half. Senior forward Lily Courier (11 points, 6 rebounds) tallied the Lions' last 7 points including a 3-pointer with 2:42 left that put them ahead 21-20.

After an Olivia Hill layup in the opening minute of the second half brought the Vikings within 23-22, LT dominated the rest of the period by outscoring Fremd 12-2 which junior guard Lindsey Hahn (team-high 12 points) culminated with a bank shot 3 at the buzzer to give LT a 35-24 advantage heading into the fourth.

The Lions' advantage would grow to 40-27 before the Vikings went on an 8-0 run that brought them within 40-35 on a putback by Grace LaBarge with 4:32 left. Fremd (9-3) would get no closer the rest of the way as it shot just 15 of 42 (35%) for the game including going only 4 of 24 in the middle two periods where it was outscored 23-9.

The Viking senior duo of Emily Klaczek and Hill led all scorers with 15 points each with LaBarge adding 11.

Fremd will meet Nazareth (9-3) in a 9:45 a.m. consolation quarterfinal Friday morning.

"In a competitive tournament like this, there are no gimmes in any round and we knew that coming in," Fremd coach Dave Yates said. "Our season didn't end today. I know we're disappointed, but there are things from the game we just played that we need to learn from and hopefully we learn from it and we're a little better tomorrow."

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