Williams, Fremd step it up
Fremd’s Xavier Williams was ecstatic. Which caused Hoffman Estates boys basketball coach Luke Yanule to be disheartened.
Williams, a senior guard, played his best game of the season by both his own estimation and by that of his coach, Bob Widlowski.
That was bad news for the visiting Hawks, who were outplayed 63-41 in the Mid-Suburban West on Friday.
“Williams had a great game on offense and defense,” said Widlowski. “It was his best overall all game this season. Our seniors showed good leadership tonight. We took advantage of the turnovers and got some good transition points.”
Williams scored 15 points and Riley Glassmann had 19 to help the Vikings (17-0 overall, 7-0 MSL West) break open the game in the second quarter.
Fremd scored 12 straight points in the first quarter to lead 12-3 cashing in on four of six turnovers committed by the Hawks (10-8, 2-5) but led only 12-6 at the end of the quarter.
Williams scored 11 points in the second, including three 3-point baskets. Glassmann scored 8 point and center Ben Carlson netted 6 of his 10 points in the quarter. Carlson finished with 7 of the Vikings’ 18 rebounds. Hoffman Estates finished with 9.
Fremd led at halftime 39-16 after shooting 15-for-22 from the field in the first half. The Vikes finished at 62 percent on 25 of 40, while the Hawks shot 48 percent on 15-for-31.
Jorden Thornton led Hoffman with 17 points, including four 3-point baskets.
“I had not had a good game this season, until tonight,” said Williams. “I’ve kind of struggled this season at times. But my teammates helped me with my shots getting me the ball in good positions.
“We really practiced hard for Hoffman. We knew they had been playing some good ball lately. We played with heart, intensity and the fight we have to have to win ball games. Our defense gets it going, and it starts in practice with the drills we do.”
Yanule was disappointed in the Hawks’ performance.
“We had a good game plan,” said Yanule. “We wanted to slow it down and have lengthy possessions. They played a 1-3-1 zone, and we’ve gone up against that kind of defense six or seven times. We didn’t make adjustments against Fremd. If you don’t make the adjustments you lose by 22 points, which we did tonight.
“I was really hoping we would play a better game than we did tonight. But now we have four games in the next seven days. We’ll get better.”