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Fremd hangs on in a classic at Prospect

A packed Jean Walker Field House at Prospect High School held its collective breath for eight seconds Tuesday.

According to Fremd coach Bob Widlowski, however, "It felt like 80 seconds."

Leading 57-55, Fremd fended off 4 inbounds plays by Prospect in those final eight seconds on the game clock to persevere and capture the Mid-Suburban League boys basketball title.

"We really relied on our defense at the end there," Widlowski said. "That was key to get us a stop. That is a dangerous group over there at Prospect, and there are a lot of people to guard when there are eight seconds to go and they were down by 2."

Prospect had trailed 57-53 with 14 seconds left and Fremd inbounding the ball under its own basket. The Vikings attempted to throw the ball down the court, but it was intercepted by the Knights' Frankie Mack, who promptly took the ball and drove for a basket to make it 57-55 with those eight seconds left.

Fremd had difficulty inbounding the ball again thanks to staunch Prospect defense, and the Knights were awarded the ball after a 5-second call.

Fremd, with two fouls to give, used both of them on ensuing inbounds passes, taking the clock down to 5.2 seconds. The Knights then inbounded the ball in the corner, but the Vikings' Kyle Sliwa was able to force a jump ball, with possession staying to Prospect with 3.1 seconds left.

On its fourth inbound play, Prospect passed the ball to the top of the key, where Fremd's Shaan Patel got a hand on it. The ball deflected in the direction of the Vikings' Luke Schoffstall, who had the foresight to bat the ball into the Prospect backcourt. And by the time it was retrieved, time had expired.

"I thought our guys did a good job out of the time out, executing the fouls," Widlowski said. "That made them reload for the play, and obviously Schoffstall's last tip was a heads-up play on his part."

Schoffstall said survival instinct made him bat the ball downcourt.

"There were four guys coming at me and I didn't want to get hit," Schoffstall said. "I knocked the ball down the court to end the game."

Patel, who was the Fremd player attempting the inbounds pass late in the game, said his defensive play made up for his earlier errors.

"Two possessions in a row I turned the ball over," said Patel, who finished with 6 points and 8 rebounds. "I usually take the ball out and coach trusts me on that. It was nice to recover on that tip."

The victory kept Fremd (26-0) unbeaten for the second time in the last three years heading into the state tournament. The Vikings begin play Tuesday at Hoffman Estates against the winner of a Monday play-in game between Hoffman and Schaumburg.

The Vikings wanted to keep the momentum going heading into the playoffs and were looking for an MSL title to be a springboard.

"None of us had been to a conference championship, so we were focused on a conference championship," said Sliwa, who finished with a game-high 23 points. "So we were focused on a conference championship more than on an undefeated season."

Sliwa made sure that the Vikings would have both.

The senior guard turned the tables on Prospect (21-5) in the fourth quarter.

The Knights had just taken their first lead of the game and had extended it to 48-45 on a basket by David Swedura with 6:32 to play.

Sliwa, who had 15 points in the first half before being held scoreless in the third quarter thanks to some fine defense by Prospect's Grant Zellmer, finally broke loose. Sliwa score the next three baskets to spark a 9-0 run that was completed by a pair of free throws by Sliwa, and Fremd led 54-48 within 1:49 left.

"I played a good first half," Sliwa said. "In the third quarter, I didn't score and they came back to take the lead. I didn't want to make it my fault for the reason that we lost, so I started to shoot more so I wouldn't mess it up."

Prospect missed 5 shots and turned the ball over twice as the Knights went scoreless for nearly five minutes.

"We took a couple of tough shots," Prospect coach John Camardella said. "And that is uncharacteristic. Our guys were trying to win, so I can't blame guys for wanting to win."

Fremd appeared to be in command early in the game as the Vikings built an 18-10 advantage after one quarter.

"We really wanted to be the aggressor even though we were the away team," said Schoffstall, who scored 9 of his 10 points in the first quarter.

Riding a 14-game winning streak coming in, Prospect showed exactly why it's been so tough to beat lately.

Three-point baskets by Mack (15 points), Swedura (14 points) and a basket by Matt Szuba (12 points, 6 rebounds) had the game tied at 18 just a minute and half into the second quarter.

From there it was a 2- to 4-point Fremd lead until late in the third quarter, when the Knights gained the advantage for the first time on a pair of free throw by Zellmer to make it 44-43 with 53.2 seconds left in the period.

Brian Dompke had 10 points and 6 rebounds for Fremd while Ryan Martin had 7 points for the Vikings.

Michael Ritchie and Antonio Gardner each had 5 points for Prospect, which will host its own regional next week and will first meet the winner of Rolling Meadows/Wauconda on Tuesday.

"I thought in terms of how our guys played and how our guys competed, we were right there," Camardella said. "They (Fremd) did the right thing in the final eight seconds. We were prepared for it - we just couldn't get a shot off."

  Fremd poses with its hardware following a win over Prospect in the Mid-Suburban League title game Wednesday at Jean Walker Field House. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.comFremd's Kyle Sliwa goes to the hoop against Prospect late in the Mid-Suburban League title game Wednesday at Prospect.
  Fremd's Kyle Sliwa goes to the hoop against Prospect late in the Mid-Suburban League title game at Jean Walker Field House on Wednesday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Fremd's Luke Schoffstall, left, evades Prospect's Antonio Gardner, front, and Matt Szuba during Mid-Suburban League title-game action at Jean Walker Field House on Wednesday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Prospect's David Swedura gets to the hoop against Fremd during Mid-Suburban League title-game action at Jean Walker Field House on Wednesday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Prospect's Frankie Mack takes a shot as Fremd's Shaan Patel defends early in the Mid-Suburban League title game at Jean Walker Field House on Wednesday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
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