Woodin's late heroics lifts Buffalo Grove by Fremd

Buffalo Grove sophomore guard Connor Woodin spends six days a week practicing his long distance game.

The work paid off but it was Woodin's layup with 43 seconds left in the game that lifted the Bison to a 55-53 win in boys basketball action over Fremd Tuesday night.

The win in a Mid-Suburban League crossover at Buffalo Grove lifted the Bison to 8-7 while the Vikings dropped to 9-5.

Star guard Eli Schoffstall was ineligible for Fremd due to receiving two technical fouls Friday at the Wheeling tournament against Deerfield.

Woodin, who comes off the bench regularly, says that watching gives him an idea of what he has to do when coach Keith Peterson calls his number.

"I am comfortable coming off the bench," said Woodin, who scored 14 points. "When I get in I want to be able to set screens and do things to help us win."

Adidas Davis, who had 14 points and 7 rebounds after a scoreless first quarter, was supposed to take the shot with under a minute left in the game.

"Adidas got past his defender and I got the ball to him," said Woodin. "But, the defender came up on him and he got the ball back in the lane and I made the layup. These tough games that we have played in is going to help us the rest of the season. We have to do our job to be aggressive and execute our plays."

As usual, a never-say-die Fremd team had four missed shots under the basket but the ball just wouldn't from for coach Bob Widlowski's team.

" We had players step up for us tonight," said Widlowski. "Ryan Sammons had 28 points for us. Mark Braun (6 points, 5 rebounds) and Aaron Orido played well also. I was pleased with our effort."

Peterson, whose team has suffered from some bad luck this season, was happy with the win, including four players with double figures.

"Jacob Heinrich (14 points) got us going with 8 points in the first quarter," Peterson said. "Davis scored 8 in the second quarter to keep us going. Josh Grote was consistent with his 10 points and Woodin had a strong second half including the layup.

"What I liked was the play tonight by Adidas. He settled down in his role at Wheeling. He's a three-year player on varsity and our players look up to him."