Fremd finds winning rhythm
Defense and tempo.
Fremd has relied on them to play basketball successfully since Bob Widlowski took over the Vikings' program in 2002.
But in those 15 seasons, Widlowski would be hard-pressed to find a better demonstration of both attributes than Friday.
Fremd smothered Conant with tremendous defensive effort and followed it up with a ball-controlling offense in a 48-37 victory Friday in Hoffman Estates.
"I though we came into the game we a great attitude coming into the game," Widlowski said. "Our players were focused on executing the game plan."
That plan included Fremd's Ryan Martin being eager to guard Conant's Jimmy Sotos.
"We kind of train together," Martin said. "So I kind of knew his moves. I just wanted to play him tough and make him take jump shots."
Martin held Sotos to just 2 points in the first half and 6 points through three quarters.
"I thought Ryan Martin did a tremendous job," Widlowski said. "Sotos is a Division 1 player and I thought that Ryan did a real nice job on him tonight. That was a key for us."
Martin was not the only Viking who played defense. Fremd completely shut down the Cougars, limiting them to a season-low 12 field goals.
"I thought we did a good job of limiting the easy baskets," Widlowski said. "They are a tough guard. And everybody on our team had to play defense. I thought this was one of our better defensive efforts."
Fremd (7-0, 2-0) made a statement right at the start.
The Vikings forced Conant to turn the ball over on the Cougars' first 3 possessions. And it didn't stop there as Fremd held Conant scoreless for nearly the opening six minutes of the game as the Vikings ran out to a 7-0 lead.
It continued into the second quarter as the Vikings opened up a 14-3 lead. Even when Conant (7-2, 1-1) found its offense, Fremd was able to extend its lead to 19-7 on a 3 by Shaan Patel with 2:25 left in the first half.
Conant was able to close to 21-11 at the half. Fremd opened the second half just like the start to the game, forcing 3 consecutive turnovers and opening up a 28-11 advantage with 4:32 left in the third quarter.
Conant finally found its offense, going on a 13-3 run to make it 31-24 on a 3 by Danny Ranallo with 6:48 to play.
Fremd then showed how well it can control the tempo. The Vikings held the ball for nearly a minute before they found a wide-open Brian Dompke for a 12-foot jumper and Conant never got within 8 points from there.
"I thought defensively they played pretty well," Conant coach Tom McCormack said. "They ran their offense, which really helped their defense. They must have possessed the ball 75 percent of the time."
Kyle Sliwa, who led the Vikings with 15 points, including 3 three-pointers, said he and his teammates were ready from the start.
"I think we came out there a lot stronger than them," Sliwa said. "We got all the loose balls and we played smart."
Martin said getting this early win over Conant was important for his team.
"We know that it is between us and them for the conference," Martin said. "So it was a big statement for us."
Martin and Patel had 9 points for Fremd, while Dompke finished with 8 points and 5 rebounds.
Sotos led Conant with 16 points, with most of those coming after the final outcome was not in doubt. Davis finished with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks.
"It was simply that our execution in the half-court did not allow us to compete with them tonight," McCormack said. "They are definitely the better team at this time of the year."