Schaumburg turns that frown around vs. Fremd
Most coaches would be thrilled to see their team shoot 8 of 12 in the first quarter and score 18 points.
But the frown locked on Schaumburg coach Matt Walsh’s face suggested otherwise.
In the team huddle, he pointed to the scoreboard and pleaded with his team to shore up its defense after host Fremd hit 7 of 10 shots and put up 16 points of their own.
Consider that message received as Schaumburg allowed just 19 points the rest of the way in posting a 46-35 victory in Mid-Suburban West play.
The win puts Schaumburg (9-7, 3-2) in a five-way tie for first place.
“Defense is our thing and we knew we had to step up because 16 points is way too many,” said Schaumburg point guard Kyle Bolger. “We wanted to pick up the pressure and play more together, and that’s what we did.”
The Saxons held the Vikings to 26% shooting in the final three quarters and just 4 field goals in the second half.
“They made us fight for every possession tonight,” said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski. “We didn’t disrupt them like they disrupted us defensively.”
Fremd (11-6, 3-2) alleviated Schaumburg’s heavy ball pressure in the first quarter with a succession of backdoor cuts but 6-foot-6 senior Jimmy Lundquist put a stop to those in the second half when he had 3 of his 4 blocks.
“Coach wanted me to keep an eye out for backdoors because in the first half, they were killing us,” Lundquist said.
After Ben Carlson (8 points) hit Sean Benka (8 points) for a layup to open the second quarter, the Saxons closed the half on a 13-4 run to grab a 31-22 lead as Bolger scored 4 of his 15 points.
The lead never got closer than 6 as Cole Reyes (game-high 18 points) had 6 of his team’s 7 fourth quarter points and on the other end, Schaumburg didn’t allow a fourth quarter point until Carlson’s steal and layup with 1:30 remaining.
And for the Saxons, the best thing about Reyes’ effort was the way he shadowed Fremd leading scorer Riley Glassmann. The Vikings junior guard scored 7 points in the first six minutes of the game but managed only a free throw the rest of the way.
Lundquist (8 points), Bolger and Reyes combined to shoot 17 of 35 and score 43 of the team’s 46 points.
“Jimmy, Kyle and Cole are our three guys,” Walsh said. “We’ve talked a lot about those three taking this team over. It’s their team.”
“We definitely needed this one,” Lundquist said. “We’ve let up a few that were right there, and we just needed to finish this game. We finally came together and I think this is going to propel us into the second half of the season.”