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Fremd returns to winning with style

If you were to ask Fremd senior guard Ryan Martin where his team stood after a loss to Prospect 10 days previous - the Vikes' fourth straight loss - he would tell you that it was mainly a style issue.

"We hadn't been playing Fremd basketball," Martin said. "We hadn't had good shot selection, which leads to bad possessions. On defense, we weren't helping one another. Teams were getting more than one shot at the basket. We needed to regain our focus."

If you were to judge the Vikings by their last two home games, and especially Friday night's home game with Hoffman Estates, that focus may be back. Along with it is the clear realization that Fremd has a terrific chance to repeat as MSL West champs.

With a 45-33 win over the Hawks, Fremd retained its share of the MSL West lead with Barrington and Palatine, who also won Friday to move into a three-way tie with 4-2 records.

"I was pleased with our poise tonight," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. "We did a nice job in the first quarter, and then after Hoffman came back we got back to what we did in that first quarter, particularly on defense, and as a result things worked out for us."

Fremd (11-7, 4-2) needed to endure a rough stretch in the second quarter as an 11-point went by the boards. Hoffman Estates erased a 20-9 deficit by going on a 10-1 run that senior Adrian Punzalan topped off with 4 of his team-high 13 points got get the Hawks within 21-19 at the break.

It was at this point the poise that Widlowski championed started to make the difference.

Starting with a 3 from Luke Seidel (10 points), the Vikings produced a 15-3 third-period burst that kept them ahead to stay. They held the Hawks to 1-for-11 shooting from the floor in the quarter, with only a Marquez Woodard 3-point play preventing a shutout as Fremd led 36-22 entering the fourth.

Hoffman Estates (8-9, 1-5) got no closer than 8 in the fourth quarter and went 5-for-20 from the floor in the second half.

"I thought we had good looks at the basket, but we missed a lot of open shots," Hawks coach Luke Yanule said. "From 3s to layups, we didn't capitalize on those opportunities that were given to us."

Martin, who finished with a team-high 13 points, spoke about the most important part of winning Friday - control of Fremd's destiny. The Vikes are not only at the front of the MSL West; they also have head-to-head wins in hand against the other co-leaders.

"The big thing is that we can get back (to the MSL championship game) if we win out," the University of Chicago commit said. "We have this huge opportunity to get rolling at the right time of the season."

Both squads get back to the hardwood Saturday afternoon against Upstate Eight teams as the Vikings travel to Bartlett to face another nest of Hawks while Hoffman Estates plays host to Streamwood.

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