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Fremd surges past Palatine

Throughout the regular season, Fremd’s girls basketball team excelled in third quarter.

So why stop in the postseason?

Nursing a 21-17 lead at break, the Vikings came out with a flourish as they have so often this season to start the second half.

The Mid-Suburban League champs outscored the No. 15-seeded Pirates 15-2 in the third period en route to a 44-28 triumph in the Class 4A Buffalo Grove regional semifinal.

The No. 2 Vikings (24-6) will face No. 7 Buffalo Grove (17-14) in Thursday’s championship at 7:30 p.m.

After senior Katie Scovic drove for basket to bring Palatine to within 21-19 with 6:10 left in the third quarter, Fremd senior Bridget Kubis hit a short bank shot to spark a 15-0 run.

“Jessi Wiedemann, Kubis and Sarah Power (6 points with two 3-pointers) all hit 3-pointers during the rally, which was capped by sophomore Ashley McConnell’s free throw.

“We’re pretty much a third-quarter team,” said Vikings forward Megan Gray, who scored 9 points and made 5 of 6 free throws. “We’ve got to start working on that third quarter and making it our first quarter so we can get off to better starts. There’s still improvement we must make by Thursday.”

Thirteen turnovers did not help the Vikings’ offense in the first half.

“Those definitely killed us,” said Vikings’ senior forward Jaimie Groot. “That’s why it was so low-scoring in the first half. We cut down our turnovers in the second half and that’s what really helped.”

Fremd coach Dave Yates stressed the Vikings must take better care of the basketball than they did in the first two quarters.

“Thirteen turnovers means 13 times we didn’t get to shoot the ball, and we’re a pretty good shooting team,” Yates said.

Top shooters for the Pirates were Kaitlyn Burke, Laura Schweikert and Katelyn Mayer, who each had 6 points.

“One of our goals was to hold their perimeter players below their averages,” Yates said. “And we did a good job there on (McKenzie) Wiedemann, Scovic and (Nia) Pappas.

“On the flip side, credit Palatine. They’ve played every team in the conference tough the second half of the season. We knew playing a crosstown rival three times wouldn’t be easy. Even when I saw the pairings, I was not real excited. So I am happy with the outcome.”

Despite falling behind 19-11 when Groot swept in for an 8-footer, Palatine made sure the outcome wasn’t settled by closing back to within 4 at half.

Junior Kaitlyn Burke hit a big 17-footer near the top of the key to spark a 6-2 run to end the second period.

“Obviously they keyed in on a few our players and we needed someone off the bench to step up,” said Pirates coach Leslie Schock. “And Kaitlyn Burke really did that in the first half (scoring all 6 of her points). She really plays all-out.”

Scovic led the Pirates with 5 rebounds while Mayer and Lauren Radtke each had 4. McKenzie Wiedemann collected 6 steals.

“That third quarter killed us,” Schock added “We always seem to take a quarter off. We’ve got to get that out of our system for next season.”

McConnell finished with a game-high 10 points while Groot and Wiedemann chipped in 7 points apiece for the Vikings.

“We didn’t like how we ended that second quarter,” Groot added. “We weren’t happy with all our turnovers.”

“After the first half we got pumped up,” Gray said. “Palatine always gives us a strong game. We knew we had to attack on the offensive boards and step up the defense.”

Images: Fremd vs. Palatine, girls regional basketball.

  Fremd’s Jamie Groot makes a strong move to the basket against the Palatine defense, including Katelyn Mayer, left, during Tuesday’s regional semifinal at Buffalo Grove. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Palatine’s McKenzie Wiedemann, left, tries to catch up to Fremd’s Ashley McConnell during Tuesday’s regional semifinal at Buffalo Grove. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Fremd’s Jamie Groot, left, lifts a shot over Palatine defender Lauren Radtke during Tuesday’s regional semifinal at Buffalo Grove. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Fremd’s Ashley McConnell drives for a layup against Palatine’s McKenzie Wiedemann during Tuesday’s regional semifinal at Buffalo Grove. JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com