Fremd routs Barrington in regional final

For Fremd playoff season is rerun season. And the Vikings are getting high ratings in both.

The Vikings played and beat Barrington for the third time this year on Friday, rolling past the host Broncos 59-35 in the Class 4A regional final. It was the fourth consecutive regional title for Fremd and its fifth in the last six years.

Fremd (22-4) will now meet Waukegan in a sectional semifinal next Wednesday at Waukegan.

That will be a repeat game for as well for Fremd. The Vikings beat Waukegan in double overtime at the Hardwood Classic in Wheeling at Christmas.

Fremd coach Bob Widlowski, who has been at the helm for seven of the school's 17 regional titles, said that playing teams multiple times presents different challenges.

"I thought it was a great team win tonight," Widlowski said. "We talked with our kids right off the bat about playing them for the third time. Our assistant coaches did a real good job. And I thought we came in with a real great attitude."

Widlowski said the Fremd defense, which forced 13 turnovers and limited Barrington to 33 percent (15-of-45) shooting, was one of the key factors.

"Our scout team did a great job of presenting Barrington in practice," Widlowski said. "I really liked the way we executed against their stuff in the first half and we were much more efficient offensively in the second half."

Fremd showed that defensive prowess in the second quarter when it limited Barrington to just 4 points. Fremd was able to put together an 8-0 run when, forcing 4 turnovers, and the Broncos missed 4 field goals.

And with Barrington (19-10) concentrating on limiting the touches of Mid-Suburban West player of the year Bryce Hopkins, it was his brother Kayman who took over for Fremd. The younger Hopkins scored 9 of his 14 points in the first half as Fremd led 21-12 at the break.

"We knew coming into this game it wasn't going to be easy," Kayman Hopkins said. "They knew that Bryce is a great player so my teammates found me. I was open at the right time and I was able to finish."

Fremd went long ball early in the third quarter to blow the game wide open.

Jake Schoffstall, who went to the bench in the game's first two minutes with a pair of fouls, knocked down a pair of 3-pointers as the Vikings went on a 14-4 burst in the first five minutes of the quarter to lead 35-16.

"It was hard to watch when I went to the bench," said Schoffstall, who finished with 9 points on three 3-pointers. "I just knew I had to regroup and calm down. They found me open and I just knocked them down."

Dean Ganas finished off the Broncos in the final quarter, scoring 12 of his 19 points.

"The atmosphere was great," Ganas said. "Coach kept us calm. He told us that it doesn't matter how many times we play a team, if we run our stuff and do our thing, it doesn't matter. We will be just fine."

John Smyros had 9 points for Fremd while Bryce Hopkins had 6 points and 7 rebounds.

It's was a tough end to the season for Barrington. The Broncos did come up with a 19-win season and were tough all year long.

"I thought we had a lot of good looks at the basket, we just couldn't get the ball to go down," Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said. "We are really proud of these guys and what they accomplished. We came back with not a lot of experience and these kids did a great job."

Aaron Sarkar, who is a junior, led Barrington with 12 points and Mark Johnson added 7 points.