Carlson, Fremd surge ahead at Hoffman

Ben Carlson isn’t usually a slow starter.

But after the first quarter, the 6-foot-6 forward had barely touched the ball and still had not taken a shot.

“I wasn’t getting the ball early,” Carlson said. “So I decided to create my own shot on that little turnaround in the second quarter and I really think it got me going.”

It got Fremd going, too. The Vikings scored 16 unanswered points and were able to turn that spurt into an easy 60-29 victory over host Hoffman Estates on Friday.

“One of our stresses coming out of the Thanksgiving tournament was to run the floor and outlet rebound,” said Carlson, who scored 10 of his 14 points in he second quarter and was 7-for-7 from the field. “We knew we could beat them down the floor with our fastbreaks.”

With Carlson sparking the Fremd offense, the Vikings (5-0, 1-0) turned up he defensive pressure. Fremd held Hoffman Esates (2-3,0-1) scoreless for 8:10, forcing 6 turnovers and keeping the Hawks outside the paint, where they missed 10 consecutive shots.

“I thought we played very well defensively,” said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski, whose team limited Hoffman Estates to 26 percent (9 of 35) and forced 16 turnovers. “We did a great job of forcing them away from the basket.”

Matt Ochoa, who finished with 11 points and 4 rebounds, said the Vikings’ depth plays a huge factor in their defensive effort.

“Our starters wear them down,” Ochoa said. “Then our bench guys like Tommy (Cordell), Sean (Benka), Jalon (Roundy) and Conner (Peters) come in and attack.”

Hoffman stayed close early, thanks to the play of Jordan Robinson. But Fremd’s Xavier Williams put the clamps on Robinson, taking away the Hawks’ best scoring option.

“I thought Xavier did a real nice job on Robinson,” Widlowkski said. “He is a tough guard. We told him on Monday that he was going to guard Robinson. and I thought he was more than up to the challenge.”

Riley Glassmann led Fremd with 16 points. He said that the Vikings are getting balanced play from all the players on the court.

“We share the ball and set screens for each other,” Glassmann said. “It is a blast playing together with these guys. We just go out there and play defense and have fun.”

Hoffman Estates coach Luke Yanule, whose team played well during Thanksgiving, was disappointed with his team’s play on Friday.

“I think we had a tough time in all phases,” Yanule said. “I think some of that is youth, but we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard.”