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Sectional host Fremd tunes up with impressive win

As America heads toward electing a new president this fall, one statistic will be made repeatedly well known - that no Republican has ever been elected to the presidency without having won the state of Ohio.

Comparing that statistic to the local scene in boys high school basketball, where the state tournament will commence a week from Monday.

Fremd won five sectional titles in an eight-year period between 1986 to 1993, and all of them happened on the friendly confines of the Vikings' home floor.

A statistic worth keeping note, should coach Bob Widlowski's team return there for a Class 4A sectional that would take place in three weeks on that same home court.

A court on which Fremd was dominant in a 47-21 win Friday night over Schaumburg.

How dominant?

• Holding the visiting Saxons to just 7-for-28 shooting (25 percent) from the field, including 2-for-16 in the second half.

• Limiting Schaumburg to just 1 field goal in quarters 1, 3, and 4.

• Outrebounding the Saxons 28-12

• Forcing 19 turnovers while getting 27 ball deflections on the defensive end.

"We did a nice job controlling the game's tempo," said Widlowski, in his 14th year as Fremd's head coach. "Especially on the offensive side, where we did a good job of executing against their zone."

For the Vikings, (20-6, 8-2), the zone was busted in large part thanks to the combined inside presence of 6-foot-8 senior Patrick Benka (8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals), 6-5 junior Brian Dompke (8 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks) and 6-4 senior reserve Samson Oladimeji (6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals).

"We were able to take advantage of our size, "Dompke said. "Getting inside postion, crashing the boards, being strong in the post was huge for us tonight."

Another huge plus for Fremd, winners of 5 in a row, was from beyond the arc where they went 6 of 15 (40 percent) led by 6-foot junior Kyle Sliwa's game-high 9 points on 3 triples followed by a pair of treys from 5-10 senior Payton Kim.

"We've got a great bunch of shooters," Dompke added. "I think we're starting to play at our best going into to the state tournament."

Fremd has the No. 2 seed in the sectional, behind MSL West champ Conant. The Cougars wrapped up the division title by winning at Hoffman Estates on Friday.

Schaumburg (5-21, 2-8), which closes out regular-season play with home games vs. Leyden on Saturday and against Wheeling on Tuesday, was paced by 6-2 junior Kameron Powell with 8 points.

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