Fremd knocks off rival Palatine
It was a long time since their last meeting, but host Fremd and crosstown rival Palatine squared off in a long-awaited Mid-Suburban West boys basketball game Tuesday night.
And while both teams showed some signs of rust in only their second game of this abbreviated season, there was still a lot of passion and fire on the court in this intense rivalry.
The Vikings got off to a bit of a slow start with a slim 11-8 lead after one quarter before they built a 21-13 advantage at halftime.
Some great 3-point shooting helped Fremd (2-0) build its biggest lead at 35-18 late in the third quarter before the Vikings held off a late rally by the Pirates (1-1) to capture a 48-38 MSL West Division victory.
Trailing by 17 points, Palatine coach Eric Millstone's squad began its late comeback attempt when sophomore guard Sam Millstone hit a 3-pointer as the third-quarter buzzer sounded.
The Pirates carried that momentum into the fourth quarter as a driving basket by Tyler Swierczek, a 3-point play by senior Eric Pecson, and a drive by Pecson cut the Fremd lead to 35-28 to cap a 10-point run with 5:09 to play.
But the Vikings would answer that run with a huge 3-pointer along with a driving basket by sophomore Ryan Sammons boosting the lead back to 40-28 with 3:25 remaining.
"We had a nice run in the second quarter and at the end of the third quarter, but more importantly for us I thought (Ryan) Saxe did a good job defensively on (Luke) Seiffert tonight," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski, whose son (Bobby Jr.) is a junior on Palatine's team. "I think every game moving forward both teams are going to play a little better after missing the first part of the season."
Free throw shooting also proved to be a big plus for Fremd as the Vikings were 13-for-15 (87 percent) from the foul line.
Junior guard Eli Schoffstall had back-to-back 3-pointers during Fremd's early third-quarter surge, and he hit 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to help seal the victory.
Schoffstall and Sammons scored a game-high 15 points each while Seiffert had a team-high 11 points for the Pirates. Pecson added 9 points for Palatine while Swierczek chipped in 8 points. Millstone and Fremd's Archie Cox scored 5 points apiece.
"I thought our first-half defense was really good and in the second half our offense got going," said Schoffstall. "This being a good rivalry nobody was really nervous. I think we can be really good if we run the floor and keep the ball moving."
Coach Widlowski was happy with the offensive firepower that Schoffstall and Sammons brought to the table Tuesday night.
"It wasn't the smoothest game," said Widlowski, whose team is at Conant Friday night. "But Sammons and Schoffstall hit some big shots that really gave us a spark."