Fremd zones in at the end against Hersey

The Fremd girls basketball team always emphasizes strong starts.

On this night, the Vikings needed a strong finish.

And the state's No 1 Class 4A team delivered.

After Hersey's spirited 7-0 run to open the second half got the Huskies to within 21-19, the Vikings closed out the third quarter with a 9-0 rally and went on to post a 40-28 triumph in the semifinal of the Stevenson sectional.

The Vikings (27-2) will face No. 6 seed Zion-Benton (23-6) for the title on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Using a collapsing 2-3 zone defense, Hersey held the explosive Fremd offense to a season-low 40 points.

"I haven't seen them (Hersey) in a zone all season," said Fremd coach Dave Yates of his scouting work. "You must give them credit. They tried something different to see if they could rattle us, and guess what? It did."

The game was tied 7-7 after one quarter but Fremd had a nice run in the second period and built a 19-9 lead when senior Erin Lenahan hit a 3-pointer.

Lenahan was the Vikings' second-leading scorer with 10 points, second only to junior Grace Tworek who finished with a game-high 15 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocked shots.

Lenahan also had a superb all-around game, collecting 5 blocked shots (4 in the first quarter), 2 steals and 2 assists.

"I'm really proud of Erin," Yates said. "A lot of times she is a fourth or fifth option and she knocked down some big shots this game.

"She also did a nice job defending one of the top players in the Mid-Suburban League (Hersey junior Claire Gritt)."

Lenahan's 17-footer capped the Vikes big 9-0 run to end the period, giving the Huskies a 30-19 lead.

Gina Miklasz started the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to get Hersey to within 30-22, but Tworek hit 2 free throws and had a rebound layup with 2:52 left in the game.

"Coach Yates assigns me to tough scorers and I take pleasure in playing defense," Lenahan said. "When I play good defense it carries over to my offense."

"Erin really stepped up for us," said teammate Amanda McCartney, who stepped up with a big 3-pointer in the second quarter during Fremd's 12-2 run. "And we has everyone else playing well."

Also stepping up on offense was Julia Wacker (4 points, 2 assists). Brianna Lewis (3 rebounds) and Bryana Hopkins (2 rebounds) also had points against the stingy Huskies defense.

"We have to work on the zone because we know we will see it in the future," Lenahan said. "But we are looking forward to it."

Miklasz led Hersey with 10 points while Gritt and Kelly Weyhrich each had 5. Gritt also collected 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

"I am really proud of our girls," said Hersey assistant coach Julia Barthel. "Defense has kept us in game all season. We needed to have a good shooting game and it just wasn't our day."

The Huskies big third-quarter start included Miklasz' 3-pointer and a 17-footer by the junior guard while Gritt had a pair of free throws.

"That run was special," Barthel said. "We just couldn't quite get over the hump there.

"I thought Kelly Weyhrich handled the ball like a true point guard. Having to handle their defensive pressure and quarterback our offense is not an easy task."

The Huskies (25-5) return all but one starter, all-conference choice Maggie Berigan, for next season.

"We will be fun to watch next year," Barthel said.

The Huskies sure made it a fun game to watch on Tuesday.

"We knew Hersey would be tough," Yates said. "We knew it was not a game we could just come out and roll through."

"Coach Yates told us before the game how to handle a zone," Lenahan said. "We knew if we played tough defense ourselves and steady offense, we could rise above."