Fremd in winning form once again
The most dominating program in Mid-Suburban League girls basketball history was pretty much dominant again in Wednesday's 42nd edition of the title game.
Despite a huge Prospect student body cheering on the Knights at the Jean Walker Field House in Mt. Prospect, the Fremd Vikings avoided the distraction and were focused from the start en route to a 52-32 triumph over the MSL East champs.
Senior Haley Gorecki, playing in her fourth straight title game, poured in a game-high 25 points as Fremd (23-4) recorded a record 16th conference crown.
Next closest is Buffalo Grove with 10.
Even more remarkable, the Vikings have won 16 of the 17 title games they've appeared in since winning the first one in 1974.
State-ranked Prospect fell for only the second time in 26 games, with both losses coming Fremd, the No. 3 team in the Class 4A state poll.
It was Fremd's third straight MSL title and fourth in five years under eight-year coach Dave Yates.
"It's crazy," said the Duke-bound Gorecki, who also had 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. "I've just been lucky to play with amazing girls and it's just an honor every year."
"We just have that drive, the confidence," said Fremd junior guard Brianna Lewis, who is now three-for-three in conference title games.
"One of my teammates was saying look at all these people and I was like 'I know I've been here before and we just have it take them out of the game and play our game.' "
That's exactly what the Vikings did, racing to an 11-2 lead with Gorecki scoring 7 straights points on a driving layup, 3-pointer and 2 free throws.
"Their crowd was humongous," Gorecki said. "I'd never seen one that big. So we needed to get momentum right away and that helped.
"Prospect is an awesome team. Shutting them down early and getting our confidence really helped for the rest of the game."
The Vikings' second quarter was the big difference.
Fremd scored the first 14 points with two big buckets from Erin Lenahan and didn't allow a basket until Taylor Will (team-high 13 points) drove for layup with 45 seconds left, making it 27-11.
A free throw by Julia Wacker with no time on the clock gave Fremd a 28-11 cushion at half.
The Vikes outscored Prospect 24-21 in the second half.
"They (Fremd) had their way with us in the first half but I thought the kids really battled and made adjustments in the second half," said Prospect coach Ashley Graham, who got the Knights to the title game for the first time since 2004 and fifth time in school history.
Prospect was also there in 2001 under coach Mike Nocella, and twice in 1984 and 1990 under IHSA Hall of Famer Jean Walker, for whom the field house is named. Walker was honored prior to the tip-off for her commitment to girls athletics and to Prospect High School where she was also the girls athletic director and girls tennis coach.
Walker coached Colleen Grant, the longtime scoring leader at Prospect, before Taylor Will took that distinction this season.
"This doesn't define us and it doesn't take us out of anything," said Taylor Will about Wednesday's game. "We've just got to come back stronger."
Prospect's Brenda Kendziera scored all 7 of her points in the second half. Teammate Haley Will also had 7 points and Catherine Sherwood is 1 point shy of 1,000 for her career.
"I thought our second half was much better," Graham said. "You just can't put yourself in a hole against that caliber of a team."
Junior Bryana Hopkins added 13 points for Fremd while sophomore Grace Tworek had a team-high 9 rebounds.
"We knew we gave Prospect its only loss (76-45) this season," said Hopkins, who just committed to Northwestern a few days earlier. "So we knew they were going to come out fighting. We wanted to slow them down right away with our defense."
Fremd is the only team to hold the Knights to under 42 points.
"I know we have bigger aspirations than this," Yates said. "But that is not to downplay this game. This is a big atmosphere. We got to play in front of a big, rowdy crowd and I thought the kids did a good job taking the crowd out of the game."
Gorecki took away her third crown in four years.
"What can I say?" Yates said. "Four years. Four MSL West titles. Three MSL titles. She shows up in every big game and she did it again. I've been very fortunate to be able to coach her."