Fremd's wait for state is over
With Frank Sinatra singing 'Fly Me to the Moon' on the speaker system in the cozy Hoffman Estates gymnasium, Fremd's girls basketball team was celebrating its first trip to the IHSA Final Four in 38 years.
Unlike when it actually did fly (by airplane) for a tournament in Arizona in late December, the Vikings will gladly settle for their biggest bus ride all season.
With a 50-34 victory over Huntley in the Class 4A Hoffman Estates supersectional on Monday night, the Vikings (28-4) will hit the road for Normal this week to face New Trier in Friday's 8:15 p.m. semifinal at Illinois State's Redbird Arena.
This will mark the eighth time in the last 10 years the Mid-Suburban League will have a representative on the Class 4A state finals. The others have been Buffalo Grove (three times), Rolling Meadows (twice) Wheeling and Hersey.
Fremd's trip to the state finals comes after back-to-back near misses in sectional championships to eventual state runner-up Rolling Meadows.
"It is a big relief after the way we lost the last two years," said Fremd coach Dave Yates. "Those were gut-wrenching experiences, and tough pills to swallow because they were to a school just about five minutes away from us. I'll say it's a pretty big relief to wear the other shoe."
The Vikes gained some relief, too, when they pulled away in the second quarter after nursing aa 7-6 lead after one quarter.
Sophomore Grace Tworek (9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocked shots) started the second period with a driving layup, and then grabbed a loose ball under the basket and put it right back up for a 3-point play that made it 12-7. Two free throws by junior Brianna Lewis and a 3-pointer by senior Haley Gorecki from the corner gave Fremd a 19-6 lead.
The Vikes led 23-10 at half.
"The thing we told our kids is that this team (Huntley) isn't going away," Yates said. "We watched a lot of film on them and knew that countless times they came back in the second half."
Sure enough, after Fremd built the lead to 32-19 when Gorecki rebounded her own miss, the Red Raiders (28-5) made their move.
Sparked by a pair of 3-pointers from 6-foot-2 Illinois recruit Ali Andrews (game-high 17 points) and one by Paige Renkosik (10 points), Huntley closed to within 36-30 with 6:15 left.
"We've been down a lot this year," said Andrews, who had three 3-pointers in the game. "So we knew we could come back. We just had to go one basket at a time."
"I've got to give our kids credit," said Huntley coach Steve Raethz, directing his team on the same floor where he played high school basketball. "We battled back and gave ourselves a chance to win in the fourth quarter. I thought we did a lot of positives on defense. We just had some offensive lulls."
Junior Bryana Hopkins, a Northwestern recruit, quieted the charging Red Raiders by hitting the next two baskets to give Fremd a 40-30 lead with 5:10 left.
"It got a little scary there (36-30), I'm not going to lie," said Gorecki, a Duke recruit who scored 15 points with 4 assists and 3 rebounds. "Huntley is a good team and known for coming back. It was a little nerve-wracking but we just calmed down and took control."
The Vikes finished by making 6 of 10 free throws in the final 2:35.
Lewis scored 10 of her team-high 16 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer that gave her team a 28-15 lead.
"I was just playing hard for my team," said Lewis, who also made 4 steals (converted one into a layup) along with 2 assists and 2 rebounds.
Erin Lenahan chipped in 5 points and 5 rebounds as for Fremd, ranked No. 4 in Class 4A, while Julia Wacker pulled down 2 rebounds.
"Fremd is a great team and we dug ourselves a hole in the second quarter," Raethz said. "I thought Ali (Andrews) came up with some big shots in the second, and Paige stepped up, too.
"Katie Costantino and Madeline Moffet (6 points) did a nice job switching up on Haley (Gorecki) and I thought all five of our girls did a great job the majority of the time with our team defense."
Raethz said the four seniors (Costantino. Kelli Rubino, Jessica Brock and Margaret Miller) will be missed.
"I want to recognize all four of them for their dedication and hard work," he said. "It's been a great three seasons and that says a lot about these kids' commitment. And its been a pleasure to coach all 14 kids on this team. The future looks bright with the kids coming back and younger ones coming up.
"These girls have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about. They had an outstanding season and should be proud of what they accomplished."