Fremd tops Palatine as Glassmann surpasses 1,000 points
On an night when it was offensively challenged, Fremd showed the importance of playing defense.
The Vikings struggled against Palatine’s zone defense, but Fremd turned up the defensive pressure enough to help cook their crosstown rivals 37-22 Friday.
And oddly, on a night when offense was so limited, Fremd guard Riley Glassmann reached quite a milestone. He finished with 14 points to put him past 1,000 in his career; he now has 1,005 points in a Fremd varsity uniform.
“They really packed it in on us,” said Glassmann. “They wanted to make sure we didn’t get the ball inside because we were so much bigger than them.”
“We spent a lot of preparation against it,” said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski. “And we expected our execution would be a little higher than it was. But our defense saved us.”
Fremd continued its road dominance. The Vikings have played just two home games this year and have only to play at Barrington in the MSL West, having played at all of their other conference opponents.
Fremd limited Palatine to just 6 field goals for the game while limiting Palatine to 19 percent shooting (6-of-31). Fremd also forced 13 turnovers with 5 those turnovers came in the first quarter when the Vikings (15-0, 5-0) pitched a shutout to lead 11-0.
Widlwoski credited the play of guards Garret Groot and Jalon Roundy for most of the Vikings’ success on defense.
“I thought Groot and Roundy did a fantastic job of on (Palatine point guard Chris) Macahon,” Widlwoski said. “Macahon is a real nice player and I thought our guys did a great job of containing him.”
Palatine (6-9, 1-4) also did a great job of containing Fremd’s offense. The Pirates packed their 2-3 zone in tight on the Vikings, daring them to shoot from the perimeter. But when Fremd was able to take the 11-0 lead in the first quarter, the Vikings became even more patient on offense.
The Vikings were also without one of their post players, as Matt Ochoa was sidelined with a concussion that he suffered on Monday in practice.
Without the 6-foot-6 Ochoa in the lineup, Palatine really sagged on Ochoa’s twin tower teammate, Ben Carlson. The Pirates played the 6-6 Carlson a bit too physically at times, sending him to the line 11 times in the game; he converted on 10.
“It was rough without Matt,” said Carlson, who finished with 14 points. “But our guys were really patient working the perimeter and I was able to make my free throws.”
Fremd also got nice play from Tom Cordell, who came off the bench at times to replace Ochoa. Cordell finished with 6 points and 7 rebounds.
Fremd, which led 11-0 after one quarter, did not allow Palatine on the board until Matt Ulrich’s 3-point play for the Pirates with 6:18 left in the first half. Glassmann and Carlson were the only Vikings to score in that half as Fremd led 18-10 at the break.
Fremd wasn’t the only team playing good defense. With the Pirates keeping the Vikings away from the basket, Fremd converted just 2 of 16 from the field in the second and third quarter and led 24-15.
Palatine closed to 24-17 with 7:06 to play on a basket by Ulrich. It was at that time fans in the stands went to their smart phones to begin to check to see wether the total points in the basketball game would exceed the number of points scored when the two schools met in October in football, when they combined for 54 in a 28-26 Fremd win.
Glassmann and Fremd answered that question quickly. Glassmann scored two quick baskets to ignite a 12-2 run as the Vikings pulled away to a 36-19 lead with 2:25 to play.
Palatine coach Eric Millstone was pleased with his team’s effort.
“I thought our kids executed our game plan perfectly,” Millstone said. “We wanted to keep Fremd in the 30’s and we thought if we could do that, we had a good shot to win. We kicked the ball around a little uncharacteristically in the first quarter and they took advantage of that and we never really recovered.”
Nolan Gavin led Palatine with 7 points while Ulrich, RJ Smith and Dondre Watson each had 5 points for the Pirates.