Schaumburg guts out tough win at Fremd
Schaumburg’s early roll was long gone and Fremd’s big home crowd was rocking in Friday night’s pivotal Mid-Suburban West boys basketball game.
But most of the Saxons have played roles in these types of situations. So they didn’t get overwhelmed or panicked where other teams might have crumbled.
Schaumburg dug in and came up with key plays at both ends of the floor, answered every challenge down the stretch and pulled out a 42-37 victory to maintain its 1-game lead in the division.
“We’ve been in big games before and we know how to handle pressure down the stretch,” said Schaumburg 6-foot-5 junior Jimmy Lundquist after scoring 9 of his 15 points in the final 4:44 and getting 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
“Coach (Matt Walsh) always says experience is your best teacher,” senior Mike Mallett said of Schaumburg losing a 16-point lead and 1-point sectional final to Niles North last year. “Me, Jimmy, Spandy (Christian Spandiary), Kyle (Bolger) and Joe (Faleni) all saw time in that game. We know how to control the tempo of a game.”
Schaumburg (17-5, 7-1) raced to a 13-0 lead in the first 4:58 only to see Fremd (13-8, 5-3) go ahead by a point midway through the third quarter.
But the Saxons led for the final 10:33 to stay a game in front of Barrington in the West with two to play.
“I’m really proud of the kids, they keep playing and keep battling,” Walsh said. “Their experience is huge. They trust each other and trust what we do in our system.”
Lundquist and Mallett (9 points, 7 rebounds) combined for 11 of the game’s first 13 points as Fremd missed 7 shots and committed 4 turnovers. But two fouls put Bolger (6 points, 5 assists) and Lundquist on the bench for the last 8:09 and 5:25 of the half respectively and the Saxons’ lead was cut to 15-13.
A midcourt steal and behind-the-back save by Garrett Peters (8 points) to Sean Benka for a drive, a Peters’ lane drive off an Adam Gorecki (13 points, 10 rebounds) steal and Riley Glassman’s free throw put Fremd up 21-20.
“I thought we battled throughout,” said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski. “We didn’t keep doing the things we did to get the lead at both ends of the floor.”
Bolger’s left-lane drive and a 3 by Spandiary (10 points, 8 rebounds) off Lundquist’s feed put the Saxons up 25-21. Fremd got within 2 points four times — the last at 38-36 on Gorecki’s baseline drive with 58 seconds left.
Lundquist iced it by making 4 free throws in 1-and-1 situations in the final 32.7 seconds.
“We always rely on our defense and defense is what won us this game,” Mallett said.