Fremd routs Buffalo Grove
Fremd's boys basketball team can shoot, play defense, rebound and then play even more defense.
Just ask Buffalo Grove.
The Vikings (4-2) decimated the Bison (3-3) in what figured to be a competitive game but turned into a track meet for Fremd.
The Vikings limited BG to 9-of-35 shooting in a 59-26 Mid-Suburban divisional crossover win Tuesday night at Fremd, putting a pretty slick-shooting Bison squad on its heels from start to finish.
Fremd scored the first 9 points, catching the Bison almost flat-footed as Jake Schoffstall (14 points) scored three times in the first quarter on slashing drives to the basket and Bryce Hopkins, looking sharp after last year's injury, adding a 3-pointer while his junior brother Kayman had a crowd-rousing slam dunk that was equally demoralizing for BG.
It was 21-9 after one quarter, 29-12 at halftime and all but over.
"We did a very good job defensively from the tip," said Fremd head coach Bob Widlowski, now just six wins shy of 300 for his career.
"We rebounded extremely well."
The Vikings did everything extremely well, with Schoffstall drawing the defensive assignment on BG freshman sharpshooter Kam Craft. And he relished it.
"You have to get up on him, make him put the ball on the floor," Schoffstall, a junior guard whose father is a BG teacher, explained of how he played Craft.
"I wanted the assignment. I was eager for it."
His play typified Fremd's defensive effort. The Vikings managed 20 turnovers out of the Bison, who really missed their chance to get back in the game when they held Fremd to just 8 points in the second quarter.
But the Bison scored only 3 themselves. Craft's 3-pointer, with just over a minute left in the period, was it for the Bison. Mike Nowakowski paced BG with 8 points.
"We did not come ready to play tonight," said BG coach Keith Peterson. "They out-physicaled us tonight. We didn't get enough stops to play at our pace."
Bryce Hopkins paced the Vikings with 18 points, but the 3-guard lineup Widlowski plays paid dividends. Dean Ganas and John Smryos were a combined 3-of-3 on 3-pointers and keyed the defensive effort that forced the turnovers. Now the Vikings need to keep up the pace.
"We need to continue to get better," said Widlowski, noting that Buffalo Grove is a much better team than what it showed Tuesday night but was not allowed to show much when his team played defense like it did.