Fremd blasts past Prospect
Fremd's girls basketball players couldn't have had a better time on the team's road trip to Arizona for four games in December.
"It was a great trip," said Fremd coach Dave Yates, whose state-ranked team went 3-1 in Phoenix. "The kids had a blast."
The Vikings were still having a blast on Tuesday night playing their first game back in Illinois.
Going up against the area's final undefeated team in Prospect, Fremd took the lead for good at 18-17 early in the second quarter en route to a 76-45 triumph over the visiting Knights (13-1), who were coming off their first championship in the Dundee-Crown Charger Classic.
Fremd improved to 14-2 after the Mid-Suburban League crossover contest, which despite the extreme cold weather outside, drew a stellar crowd with a Friday night atmosphere.
The Knights, playing without their starting sophomore point guard Haley Will (illness), had their fans on their feet with a 7-0 lead on baskets from junior Brenda Kendziera, Brown recruit Taylor Will (3-pointer) and junior Clare O'Carroll.
But the Vikes nudged ahead for the first time when junior Julia Wachal (6 points, 3 rebounds) scored on a putback for a 16-15 lead with 59 seconds left in the first quarter.
Two free throws by Will (13 points) to start the second quarter gave the Mid-Suburban East leaders their final lead at 17-16.
Duke recruit Haley Gorecki, who scored a game-high 23 points with 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, then gave Fremd the lead for good with a left-handed bank shot that started a 12-4 run and led to a 28-21 advantage at intermission.
The MSL West leaders then enjoyed a 48-point second half to put the game away, limiting the Knights to 24 points.
Two free throws by Catherine Sherwood (10 points) got Prospect to within 35-28 with 5:29 left in the third quarter.
But soon after, Sherwood picked up her fourth foul and missed more than half of the third period.
In the meantime, the state's No. 3 ranked team in Class 4A, went on a 31-5 run to take control.
Junior Bryana Hopkins (17 points) made a steal under the Prospect basket and went coast to coast for a layup a 42-30 lead.
After a Prospect timeout, Gorecki grabbed a defensive rebound and raced the length of the floor for layup that made it 44-30.
The Knights never recovered.
"We worked on things in practice we could do to defend Catherine Sherwood," Gorecki said. "So we got lucky when she picked up that fourth foul. And it was too bad that Haley Will couldn't play for them."
Sophomore Brianna Lewis also played a solid all-around game for Fremd with 13 points, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Grace Tworek made her first appearance since a knee injury sidelined the talented sophomore in early December.
"It's nice to have everyone back," Gorecki said. "We were clicking at the start of the season so it was nice to be able to do that again."
Tworek is another key rebounding factor at 6-foot-2.
"That's why we play a lot of zone," Gorecki said. "We have a lot of length and long girls."
"Grace gives us length," Yates said. "She is going to be a very good player. She's long, can pass and rebound and those are pretty good traits for a 6-2 sophomore."
Tworek had 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots while Hopkins pulled down 5 rebounds and Lauren Glaser had 4. Erin Lenahan grabbed 2 rebounds with 5 points and 2 assists.
"I thought we pounded them on the glass," Yates said. "Lauren Glaser is all of 5-foot-6 and she had some big offensive rebounds. I was pleased that we went fairly deep on our bench and got good play."
Prospect coach Ashley Graham was disappointed in the Knights' "fight" in the second half.
"But credit Fremd," she said. "Because they are a very good basketball team and they took us out of our offensive rhythm in the second half.
"We just have to get back in the gym and have a good practice. We do not have time to hang our heads as we have three more games this week (Highland Park on Thursday, Rolling Meadows on Saturday and Mundelein on Sunday)."
Kendziera, junior Nikki Matters and freshman Emily Frasco all had 6 points for Prospect.
In the game's final 1:15, Frasco hit 2-pointers while Fremd senior Emily Bieda and junior Amanda McCartney had 1 apiece.
"Not having Haley was a major issue and it was really tough when Cat (Sherwood) wen to out because she is such a huge presence for us in the middle," said Taylor Will. "They definitely had an advantage there. But I credit Fremd a lot. They were really good with their press and took advantage of our turnovers.
"Fremd made that good run on us and we were never able to catch up. I thought read exposed some of our weaknesses but we will use that as a good thing so we can improve on them for later in the season."