Fremd holds off Conant to stay tied atop MSL West
Visiting Conant had a pretty good game plan when it met Fremd on Senior Night Friday in Mid-Suburban West boys basketball action.
By slowing down the tempo, the Cougars went into halftime with a 12-11 lead as the Vikings really struggled offensively in what was a classic defensive struggle for the first half.
But Fremd (17-4, 8-1) was able to outscore Conant (9-13, 4-5) 15-8 in the third quarter before pulling away late in the fourth quarter for a 44-33 MSL West victory behind some balanced team scoring.
For the most part, the Cougars played Fremd tough the whole way as the Vikings tried to pull away with 2 free throws by senior Bryce Hopkins tying the Vikings' biggest lead of the game at 36-27 with 1:52 to play.
But Conant sophomore Devon Ellis somehow got the ball to bounce in on his drive before he converted a 3-point play with 1:29 remaining. Then after 1-of-2 free throws by Fremd's John Smyros, point guard Dominic Benigni hit a 3-pointer for the Cougars to cut the gap to 37-33 with 1:02 to go.
"I told our guys I'm not mad at the effort, we came ready to play, we just didn't make enough plays especially in the third quarter," said Conant coach Jim Maley, whose team lead 6-0, and 12-6 midway through the second quarter.
"We turned the ball over six times in the third quarter, and we struggled against their press."
Free throw shooting was huge for the Vikings down the stretch as they hit 5-for-6 from the line in the final 56 seconds before a breakaway dunk by 6-foot-5 junior Kayman Hopkins with five seconds left accounted for the final score.
"I thought they controlled the pace in the first half, and they were very efficient offensively," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski, whose team outscored the Cougars 33-21 in the second half. "After halftime we did a good job of speeding the pace up, we got some transition baskets, and we got into more of a rhythm."
After falling behind 12-6 Fremd, which stayed tied atop the West with Schaumburg, would proceed to go on a 14-point run as a basket off a turnover by Smyros gave the Vikings their biggest lead at 20-14 early in the third quarter.
Conant trailed 26-20 entering the fourth quarter before a 3-pointer by senior Jonathan Kolev kept them within striking distance at 30-27 with 4:15 to play.
"I thought we did a really good job in the first half, and we were trying to spread the floor a little bit," said Maley, whose team missed a shot with 38 seconds to play that really sealed the outcome. "Their defense is really good at handling all of the sets we run, and we wanted to make this a slow tempo game."
Bryce Hopkins and Smyros led the Vikings with 11 points each while senior teammate Dean Ganas had 9 points. Senior Anthony Wachal led Conant with 9 points followed by Ellis with 8 points, and Kolev with 7 points. Schoffstall added 7 points for Fremd.
"It was a good Senior Night, the seniors finished the game strong, and it was a good atmosphere," said Widlowski, whose team hosts Prospect on Saturday. "I thought we did a nice job at the free throw line in the fourth quarter."