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Gorecki ties career high (31) as Fremd tops Hinsdale S.

Hinsdale South’s girls basketball team knew all about Haley Gorecki.

And Gorecki knows all about box-and-ones.

The Hornets threw that defense at the Fremd standout junior on Saturday afternoon in Palatine.

Gorecki was once again up to the challenge, tying her career-high of 31 points as the Vikings tuned up for Wednesday’s Mid-Suburban League championship game against Rolling Meadows with a 62-37 victory over Hinsdale South.

Gorecki scored from everywhere, hitting four 3-pointers and 6-of-6 free throws to lead the Vikings to their 23rd win in 26 games.

“We talked to the kids that Fremd was going to be great and that they have a player who can go to any college she wants,” said Hinsdale South coach Jen Belmonte. “They’re a great team and we were lucky to get them to put us on their schedule.”

Gorecki quickly put the Hornets on their heels, hitting a layup shortly after the jump ball. Her 3-pointer midway through the quarter capped a 9-1 run by the Vikings to start the game.

“Any time we can go against a box-and-one is good for us,” Yates said. “We’ve seen it consistently and we’re putting in more and more things to handle it.”

Sydney Kopp handled both defensive chores on Gorecki and had a big scoring role for the Hornets. The sophomore guard, who average 12 points game, led the visitors with 14 points.

“She has been picking it up,” Belmonte said. “She did a nice job. She always guards the best player. She was getting frustrated. But we told her, ‘Look she (Gorecki) is going to score, you’re not going to stop her every time.’ ”

Vikes sophomore Bryana Hopkins was tough to stop on the boards, collecting a game-high 8 rebounds along with 8 points.

“I thought she did a good job rebounding,” Yates said. “There are a lot of unsung things she does that don’t jump out statistically and I thought she did a good job clearing rebounds.”

Sophomore Brianna Lewis also scored 8 points for Fremd with 2 rebounds and 2 assists while senior Erica Simios (2 rebounds) and freshman Grace Tworek (3 steals) each collected 4 points.

Junior Gennifer Simpson chipped in 9 points for the Hornets (12-14), who finished third in the West Suburban Gold with an 8-4 record.

“I was glad we adapted to the game,” Belmonte said. “Our half-court trap worked well a couple of times. We learned a lot from this game.

“We kept fighting and never gave up. That’s all you can ask for. It seem like we missed everything in the first half. We were like 5-of-20 with about eight missed layups. But sometimes that happens.”

Gorecki happened to hit her career high of 31 just two games ago in a 64-38 win against Barrington.

“Credit Haley,” Yates said. “She’s getting to be one of the most consistent players around. She hasn’t had many off days. She has been playing at an extremely high level her whole junior season.”

“This game gives us even more confidence,” said Gorecki, who also had 4 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 assists and 1 blocked shot. “We didn’t play our best or as well as we are capable of, but we got the win.”

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