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Fremd battles past Elk Grove for Fenton title

Fremd's boys basketball team wrapped up its second consecutive Chuck Mitchell Thanksgiving basketball tournament championship at Fenton by stopping Elk Grove 45-40 in the 29th-year of the event Friday afternoon.

The Vikings (4-0), who have now won 32 of their last 33 games, did it with clutch shooting and defense.

"I thought our defense in the first half and fourth quarter was very good," said Fremd coach Bod Widlowski.

Sophomore guard Kyle Sliwa, getting his first start, scored 14 points, with 5 of those coming in a pivotal fourth quarter. Fremd senior quard Xavier Williams scored 5 of his 8 in the final frame.

"Sliwa played very well," said Widlowski. "He's a sophomore. He stepped up and did a good job. Xavier played better in each game. He played real well in the second half of today's game. It's a new group for him to work with."

Elk Grove, which trailed most of the game, went into the fourth quarter trailing 33-31.

Eric Pillrath (8 pts) sank two 3s and Malco Odishoo hit for one in a 9-0 run give the Grenadiers (3-1) a 40-35 lead with 4:47 left.

Williams' 3 narrowed the gap to 40-38 with 4:22 left. Sliwa hit 1 of 2 free throws. Williams threaded the needle on a pass to Ryan Kraske under the basket for a 41-40 lead with 2:35 left. Then Sliwa connected off of a pass from Payton Kim and then sealed the win with 2 free throws with 2.1 seconds left.

"We kept a good attitude when they took the lead," said Widlowski. "We kept our heads up and battled back."

"That's what Fremd does, and they set the standard for it," said Elk Grove coach Anthony Furman. "We hit them with the three 3-point baskets, but then they come back on their next few possession to take the lead. Runs that they made in the second and fourth quarters hurt us."

Elk Grove led 13-10 after the first quarter. Fremd went on a 15-3 spurt to lead 25-16 before Dan Hadler (7 points) hit for a basket with :05 left in the first half.

"When they took the lead," said Sliwa, "coach just said to calm down, stick with your man and box out. We knew we had to get stops, which we did. Tonight I was just looking for my shot. I hit my first three shots and my teammates encouraged me to keep shooting."

"This was a good game for us," said Widlowski. "When the game was on the line we made some big shots and came up with some big stops."

"We started off the same way this year as last," said Williams. "It was a team effort to win this one. Let's see where it goes."

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