Fremd's big 3rd quarter nets win at Barrington
Friday's Mid-Suburban West showdown between the Daily Herald's top-ranked Fremd girls basketball team and No. 5 Barrington was tied at 25-25 at halftime.
But with sophomore guard Ellie Thompson scoring 14 of her career-high 21 points, the Vikings scored more points in the third quarter (27) than they did in the first two and went on to post a 67-52 triumph on the Fillies' floor.
Thompson's classmate Ella Todd (3 assists) added 12 of her 17 points in the second half as the Vikings raised their record to 9-0 and 2-0 while the Fillies now stand at 8-3 and 1-1.
Thompson's big night included four 3-pointers in the big third quarter. Fremd outscored Barrington 27-8 with Purdue commit Sophie Swanson scoring all 8 points en route to her game-high 24 (four 3-pointers).
"It (Thompson's big scoring surge) was awesome to see," said Fremd coach Dave Yates. "They were zoning us so we needed to stick outside shots. Obviously we ran stuff to get her good looks and she did what she needed to do: she hit them. She has been shooting the ball awesome all season. She just did what she's been doing. It was great to see her do it in a big game like this."
"I was feeling it tonight, the shots were on," said Thompson, a Sundling Middle School alum who also finished with a career-high six 3-pointers along with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. "The whole team was working for it. We really came out with great energy and pulled through."
Northern Illinois pledge Maddy Fay pulled down 10 rebounds with 12 points for a double-double while Coco Ulacher, another sophomore, reached double figures with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals. Her sister, Kace, collected 4 points, 6 assists, 4 steals and 3 rebounds while Sam Bodensteiner handed out 6 assists with one basket.
Yates said the key to the second half blitz was getting players back from foul trouble and slowing things down offensively.
Todd's 17-footer put Fremd in front 11-4 with 2:26 left in the first quarter but the Fillies charged back with an 18-1 run. Swanson's 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in the first quarter gave the Fillies their first lead at 12-11.
They scored the first 10 points for the second quarter, getting 3-pointers from senior Lydia Shechtman (9 points on three 3-pointers) and Swanson. Two free throws by Gwen Adler (11 rebounds, 4 assists) and a steal and layup by Swanson made it 22-12.
"We were rushing things there," Yates said. "We were turning the ball over. We talked about finding the right shots and I thought we did a much better job of that in the third quarter. To come into this gym and get a win is something we couldn't do for the past few years. To play like we did here tonight is a great sign for our team."
Fremd fought back from the 10-point second quarter deficit with a 13-3 run to close out the first half in a 25-25 tie.
Schechtman's second 3-pointer gave the Fillies a 25-23 lead with 10 seconds left before the Vikes got a short bank shot from Fay to tie it at 25.
"We didn't do our job defensively tonight," said Barrington coach Babbi Barreiro, who also got 12 points from junior Molly O'Riordan. "We knew what Fremd was capable of doing. They've been doing it all season. To hold them to 25 points in the first half was outstanding. Then to let them loose in the second half like that, we have to do better as a team.
"Giving those outside looks to Thompson and Todd hurt. That was no surprise. We knew they were capable of that. And we had to be better at executing on offense. We didn't play team basketball. Against a good team, you've got to have everyone involved in your offense. I just didn't think we looked sharp."
In between the girls and boys basketball games, coach Michelle Jakubowski's girls volleyball team (third place), Tim Martin's girls golf team (fourth) and 500 free swimmer Jenna Kerr (state champ) were honored for their fall state accomplishments at Barrington.