Balanced Fremd dumps Prospect for regional crown
The largest group of seniors Dave Yates has coached in his 14 seasons at Fremd went out in style on Thursday night.
Playing their final home game, they left the Vikings' gymnasium as Fremd's 24th regional championship team.
Senior Emily Klaczek scored 10 points while classmate Olivia Hill, junior Grace LaBarge and junior Ruthie Montella each added nine as the Vikings posted a 47-26 triumph over No. 11 Prospect at Fremd.
While they played their final game at Fremd, it won't be the last for the Vikes in Palatine.
No. 3 Fremd (25-7) will face No. 2 Libertyville (24-7) in the Class 4A Palatine sectional semifinal at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.
"Oh man, this was awesome," said Klaczek, the three-time Mid-Suburban West Player of the Year, who won her third regional crown in four years.
"Coming out on our court for the last time with all our seniors, we said 'let's have fun and let's play together' and that's exactly what we did."
The game went back and forth for the first ten minutes, with Prospect grabbing its last lead at 12-11 on junior guard Eliot Dojutrek's 12-foot floater in the lane.
However, senior Katie Hansen's layup off an assist from Klaczek ignited the Vikings on a 23-4 run that decided the game.
Fremd led 24-16 at half and held Prospect scoreless until sophomore Andie Will's 3-pointer with 1:36 left in the third quarter. By then, the Vikings still led 36-19.
"Honestly, I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves before the game," said Montella, who had 7 rebounds. "We knew Prospect was a really good team and obviously was trying to get past us. I think our biggest motivation was that we kept telling ourselves how senior-heavy (11 in all) we were and what a great opportunity this was to get a regional championship for our seniors' last home game."
One of those seniors, Hill (9 rebounds), scored 7 of her 9 points during the Vikes' big 23-4 run along with a blocked shot and steal. LaBarge had two big transition layups during the rally, one coming on a nice pass from Klaczek.
"Emily has great vision," Yates said. "It's nice to have someone who has played for four years because she understands where everyone should be and when they are, she gets them the ball.
"Grace did a good job. She has good length and she hit some big buckets in that run. Olivia did a nice job scoring against their zone."
Will led Prospect (14-15) with 10 points while Dojutrek added nine.
"I thought Caroline Cochran, Liz Prigge and Grace LaBarge did a nice job rotating on their two good players," said Yates, who won his eighth regional crown at Fremd. "They did a nice job keeping them in check."
"It hurts to lose in a regional final but we did a good job, especially in the first half, of getting after them," Dojutrek said. "We did a good job closing out on their shooters and sprinting back because they're a really fast team.
"We battled in the second half but our shots weren't falling and theirs continued to fall. I was really proud of us, especially with the win over Buffalo Grove (MSL East co-champion). To get to a regional final in a competitive sectional like this is exciting and something to look forward to, for sure."
The Knights graduate four seniors (Sarah Skaggs, Ellen Sherwood, Jolene Neuhalfen and Olivia Accardi).
"They were with our program for four years and I got to coach them as freshmen so we're always grateful for the seniors," said Prospect second-year coach Marie Miller, who didn't fault her team's effort.
"We never quit. Fremd is an athletic, sound team and hard to play against. Our game plan was perfect as far as what we were planning to do against an amazing challenge in Fremd. They're well-coached and have incredible athletes."
A 3-pointer by Skaggs and a 17-footer by Will had the Knights in front 7-2 with 5:21 left in the first quarter.
"I thought they did a great job against Buffalo Grove," Yates added. "They have girls who can score and we knew if we let them shake free it would be a difficult game for us."