Short-handed Fremd hangs on at Conant; Barrington rolls
Fremd's girls basketball team overcame the absence of standout sophomore Grace Tworek on Thursday night and extended its winning streak to 16 games in the Mid-Suburban West with a 46-41 triumph at Conant.
Senior Haley Gorecki led the Vikings (9-1, 3-0) with a game-high 22 points and also collected 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals while teammates Erin Lenahan and Bryana Hopkins each chipped in 8 points.
Brianna Lewis handed out 4 assists with 2 steals and 6 points.
Tworek injured her knee in practice on Wednesday and did not play.
"I am proud of our team," said Fremd coach Dave Yates. "It has been a very traumatic 24 hours for the girls with one of their teammates going down. These kids care a lot about each other.
"We do not know the significance of Grace's injury. We hope to find out more (today). Grace is a big part of this team and we are hoping for the best."
Lewis hit both ends of a bonus to give Fremd a 3-point lead with 17 seconds left.
The Vikes led by 1 point at half as Hopkins and Julia Wacker were on the bench for most of the second quarter with foul trouble.
Fremd was able to get its lead up to 6 points a few times in the second half but Conant would always answer with a big shot.
Jorie Wachal converted three 3-pointers for the Cougars (5-2, 1-0) and finished tied for the team lead in scoring with Haley Anderson. They each had 13 points while Katie Lomas added 8.
"To go on the road and beat Conant is a big win," Yates said. "They are playing very good basketball."
Barrington 38, Palatine 23: Kelly Katis (13 points) and Megan Talbot (10 points, 7 rebounds) were double-figure scorers for host Barrington, which improved to 5-5 and 2-1 in the Mid-Suburban West,
Auri Grayson added 9 points for the winners.
Talbot led the Fillies on the boards with 7 rebounds while Tamara Zivak and Bailee McDonald each had 6.
The Fillies limited the Pirates (3-6, 0-2) to 1 field goal in each of the first three quarters.
"I thought our man-to-man defense was very solid and Megan Talbot did a real nice job on Monica Masini because I know she is a very good player," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro. "Our guards put enough pressure on their guards to make it hard for them to get the ball inside to her."
Junior Geena Eliades led Palatine with a career-high 8 points, including 6-of-6 free throws.
"I thought we rebounded well," Barreiro added. "Tamara and Bailee gave us great minutes off the bench. Kelly and Megan were very steady and Auri Grayson gave us some big offensive rebounding and she did a real nice job on defense.
"Offensively, we are still not clicking. But we will get there."
Hersey 64, Elk Grove 35: Senior Annie Korff scored a game-high 17 points and Kelly Weyhrich had a season-high 10 points to lead host Hersey (7-2, 1-1) in the Mid-Suburban East.
Korff and Weyhrich each had a pair of 3-pointers while teammates Juliette Vainisi (9 points) and junior Susan Lindstrom each had one. Claire Gritt also had 9 points.
O'Rayn Macavoy led EG (2-6, 0-2) with 8 points while Taylor Matos and Alex Masnica each had 6.
Wheeling 57, Rolling Meadows 53 (OT): It took Wheeling (7-3, 1-1) overtime to hand host Rolling Meadows (6-2, 1-1) its first loss in the Mid-Suburban League East since the 2011-12 season.
Wildcats senior Deanna Kuzmanic scored a game-high 22 points, including her fourth 3-pointer in the extra session.
Hannah Dobrowski and Melissa Claver each added 13 points for the Wildcats.
Meadow was paced by sophomore Kyra Spiwak's career-high 20 points while Hannah Mickey chipped in 8 and Megan King 6.
Schaumburg 60, Hoffman Estates 46: Seniors Jada Blackwell (15 points) and Brittany Reinhart (11) were top scorers for the visiting Saxons (4-5, 1-1) in the Mid-Suburban West contest.
Laura O'Connell chipped in 9 points for Schaumburg which led 34-27 at half.
Hoffman Estates (1-7, 0-2) was paced by junior Mynk Richardson-Clark (career-high 18 points) and senior Mary Saitta (12).
Jennifer Nailor made 7-of-10 free throw for 7 points. Erin Hanson also chipped in 7 for the Hawks.