Fremd takes it to Barrington

Fremd's boys basketball team showed Friday it is more than just hops.

Dean Ganas, John Smyros and Jake Schoffstall stepped up for the Vikings in a huge way as Fremd rolled past host Barrington 70-45 in the Mid-Suburban League opener for both teams at Barrington.

With Barrington looking to slow the Bryce and Kayman Hopskins show, the trio of Ganas, Smyros and Schoffstall combined to bang home 54 points to help power the Vikings.

"I really thought our guys stepped up and shared the ball well," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. "They gave Bryce a lot of attention, but the other guys stepped up. They had great energy and a great attitude and I though we played a complete game."

Each of the trio nailed a pair of 3-pointers and they weren't afraid to drive the lane either.

"They were playing Bryce tight, so there were a lot of driving opportunities available," said Ganas, who had a career-high 20 points.

"I kind of took advantage of that. The beauty of our team is that when one guy gets taken out of the game, we have other guys who can step up and play. Everyone can score."

By being able to get to the rack as well as it did, Fremd (3-2, 1-0) shot a blistering 66 percent (25-of-38) from the field.

"We have been playing with each other for a while," said Smryos, who had 18 points. "We knew we had to take over the game. We passed the ball around and got good shots."

Schofftsall, who is a junior and saw a lot of varsity minutes last year as a sophomore, said this group is meshing well early in the season.

"Our chemistry is good, said Schoffstall, who scored 16 points. "We have been playing together for so long it is like second-nature. We just step up and play."

Fremd scored the first 11 points of the game and the Vikings never looked back from there as Barrington (4-1, 0-1) never got closer than 7 points.

"I thought Kayman and Bryce rebounded the ball well for us, "Widlowski said. "But they really locked on them, especially Bryce. So we moved the ball around quite well."

Bryce Hopkins finished with 8 points for the Vikings while Kayman Hopkins had 4 points. Each had 7 rebounds.

The 70 points scored by Fremd was a rarity for the Vikings, especially when it comes to playing MSL games. But Widlowski, who is in his 17th year as head coach, said that this team is different from his teams in the past.

"That is the way we want to play basketball," Widlowski said. "We shared the ball and played defense. That is the way we want to play moving forward."

Widlowski said playing in the tough Mundelein tournament over Thanksgiving prepared his team for the rest of the season.

"I though we had some ups and downs in the tournament," said Widlowski, whose team went 2-2. "But that tournament prepared us as we head into the conference. But we still have a long way to go."

Barrington was led by Will Raider, who had 12 points. Aaron Sarkar had 11 points and Mark Johnson 10 points for the Broncos, who shot 33 percent (15-of-45).