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Fremd takes turn into MSL West lead

Conant was on the verge of turning the third quarter into the turning point of Saturday night's Mid-Suburban West boys basketball showdown at Fremd.

Then the Vikings responded to a 5-point deficit like defending MSL champions with their own major turnaround. They ended up with the 9-point lead they had early in the second half and won 55-46 to take sole possession of first place in the West in Palatine.

“We did an excellent job of coming back,” said Fremd senior guard Zach Monaghan, who scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the final 8:02.

“We have five seniors out there who are all very experienced and have been playing basketball for a long time,” said 6-foot-5 Jack Konopka, who scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and had 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. “We know how to handle pressure well.

“I think that (fourth quarter) showed our composure. Nobody panicked.”

Monaghan and Konopka didn't as they combined for all but 2 of 31 second-half points by the Vikings (12-6, 4-1) in their fourth straight victory.

And the Vikings didn't after Conant (11-5, 3-2) senior Dylan Bartuch (17 points) hit all 5 of his third-quarter shots and a pair of 3-pointers to turn a 27-18 deficit into a 35-30 lead.

Monaghan had missed four straight 3s but a turnover gave him another chance to make an off-balance shot from behind the arc two seconds before the third-quarter buzzer.

“That was a possession they shouldn't have had,” Conant coach Tom McCormack said. “We couldn't absorb 16 points off turnovers and the difference off the foul line (17-for-26 for Fremd to 6-for-8 by Conant) was huge.”

Monaghan found Konopka for a tying layup on the first possession of the fourth quarter. Monaghan, who missed his only shot in the first 14:56, hit his fourth 3 and Ken Leonard hit Konopka for another layup.

One of Monaghan's 4 fourth-quarter steals led to 2 free throws at 5:36 to cap a 12-point run for a 42-35 lead.

“We knew we'd have to buckle down if we were going to win the game,” Konopka said, “and we'd have to do it on the defensive end.”

Leonard played a key role there as Bartuch missed all 4 of his fourth-quarter shots.

Brian Wadsworth added 12 points for Conant, which cut its deficit to 44-41 on a London Dokubo (10 points) steal and layup at 3:12. But Quinton Brown had a layup assist to Konopka and Monaghan turned another steal into a driving 3-point play and 49-41 lead at 2:18.

“We have a lot of seniors out there who have been in this situation before and we expect them to react in that fashion,” said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski. “They kept their focus and got back to getting stops.”

Images: Conant vs. Fremd boys basketball

  Fremd’s Quinton Brown shoots in front of Conant defender Avery Osby during Saturday’s game. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com