Fremd shoots past Hoffman Estates
In less than three minutes, senior Jaimie Groot hit two 3-pointers and sophomore Ashley McConnell converted one to stake Fremd’s girls basketball team to a 9-2 advantage over Hoffman Estates.
The host Vikings, though, would not score the rest of the opening period and the Hawks cut the lead 9-8.
“We kind of fell in love with the 3-pointer,” said Fremd coach Dave Yates. “But we also have shot them very well so we don’t discourage the girls from taking them.”
And the Vikings have yet to come away discouraged from a Mid-Suburban West game.
Despite falling behind 14-13 and by 1 point a few times in the third quarter, Fremd (19-4, 7-0) came back and posted a 53-48 triumph on Friday night to maintain its 1-game lead over Barrington (16-7, 6-1) in the MSL West.
Hoffman (14-7, 3-4) enjoyed its last lead at 23-22 when sophomore Becca Stoczynski banked home a 6-footer in the lane with 4:28 left in the third quarter.
But the Vikes answered when Jessi Wiedemann (game-high 11 points) made a steal and then assisted on a layup by Megan Gray (8 points) for a 24-23 lead.
With 2:39 left in the third quarter, Wiedemann fired home a 3-pointer for a 27-23 lead and Fremd never looked.
McConnell’s 3-pointer with 3:04 left gave the Vikes a 36-31 advantage.
“I just try to shoot with confidence and Jaimie (Groot) made a good read there to get me the ball,” said McConnell, who scored 10 points. “We just knew we had to pressure their guards guard and keep them off the boards.”
Wiedemann hit 4 straight free throws to give Fremd a 50-44 lead with 59.9 seconds remaining.
A driving left-handed layup by junior Mary Pettit (4 rebounds) brought Hoffman to within 50-46 but McConnell had a big rebound and hit 3 free throws in the final 32 seconds to seal the deal.
“The biggest thing is that we knew we had to box out and keep them off the glass,” Groot said. “If we did that, we felt we could win.”
The Vikings won the first time against Hoffman Estates 47-45.
“They are a good team, well-coached and very physical,” Yates said. “We did well enough each time to beat them, and we didn’t shoot all that great either time.”
Hoffman struggled with its shooting, too, making 16 of 49 shots.
Jada Stotts (10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals), Destinee Young (8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals), Precious Ogunleye (7) and Tanya Skworch (7) led the Hawks.
Ogunleye also led the Hawks with 6 rebounds before fouling out.
”Precious had a good game,” said Hawks coach Mike Nocella. “Defensively and rebounding, she was a tiger.
“The games was there for us. We did a good job defensively but just didn’t play well offensively.”
After trailing 9-2, Hoffman went on a 12-5 run to get the lead at 14-13 on Young’s steal and layup.
“We have to be under control on offense,” Nocella added. “We were going 150 miles per hour instead of being patient. But you must credit Fremd’s defense, too. We just didn’t control the tempo like we did in our last few games.”
Megan Horn and Bridget Kubis also had key baskets for Fremd, which visits Schaumburg on Friday.
“It feels great to get another win,” Groot said. “But we’ve got to keep going and going.”
Like they were going with the three 3-pointers by Groot and McConnell in the game’s first three minutes.
“We planned it that way, of course,” Groot said with a big smile and laugh. “Seriously, we just wanted to come out strong. We had been struggling early in games.”