Fremd springs upset of Waukegan
So much for the seedings.
No. 13 Fremd took it to No. 4 Waukegan, beating the Bulldogs 71-54 in the semifinals of the Palatine Class 4A regional boys basketball tournament Tuesday.
The Vikings will wait until later tonight to find out their next opponent in Friday’s regional championship game, either No. 12 Grant or No. 5 Lake Forest.
Tuesday’s performance might make one wonder how a team now 17-11 could be seeded so much lower than a team finishing at 15-11.
Fremd outrebounded Waukegan by a 29-19 margin, were virtually even in turnovers, and got to the free throw line for 20 more attempts than the Bulldogs.
Fremd’s entire starting five of Riley Glassmann (14 points, 7 assists), Garrett Peters (10), Nate Serviss (13, 10 rebounds), Sean Benka (10) and Adam Gorecki (game-high 22, 10 rebounds) scored in double figures, accounting for 69 of the Vikings’ highest point total of the season.
“We picked a good time for it,” said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski on his team’s best performance of the season. “It was a complete game.
“We came in with the plan to get Adam the ball, and for a while he was hard to stop.”
Gorecki had no trouble getting inside against Waukegan sophomore Jerome Davis, listed at 6-feet-6, but appearing to be a few inches shorter than the 6-6 Gorecki.
“My eyes lit up when I saw that,” Gorecki said. “It’s not just me; Ben (Carlson) and Nate have a big size advantage.
“It’s a new season, and we’re 2-0,” Gorecki said. “We’re looking forward to Friday.”
Gorecki made 5 of 6 shots in the first quarter as the Vikings jumped out to an 18-11 lead. Waukegan trimmed the lead to 31-27 at halftime, but Fremd took control early in the third quarter, scoring the first 7 points to lead 38-27.
Fremd did not allow Waukegan to grab a single offensive rebound in the second half after giving the Bulldogs 7 second chances in the first half.
Fremd took a 47-37 lead into the fourth quarter and took advantage of its free throw opportunities, hitting 12-of-14, including 10-of-10 by Glassmann, whose defensive assignment was to shadow Waukegan Division I recruit Akeem Springs.
Springs was forced into taking many deep 3-point attempts, finishing with 17 points on 5-of-17 shooting, including 5-of-10 from behind the arc.
“He’s a great player,” Glassmann said. “He can do everything. I had to stay with him, and my teammates helped out, too.”
“He’s a big, quick guard,” Widlowski said. “He was limited in his looks.”