Glenbrook North rallies from 13 down, beats Fremd
Glenbrook North turned the tables on Fremd Monday in the title game of the MLK tournament at Lakes in Lake Villa.
Glenbrook North rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to upend the Vikings 57-41 in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.
It was the second tournament title for Glenbrook North (18-2) this year. The Spartans won their own tournament at Thanksgiving and finished second at the Wheeling Hardwood Classic at Christmas.
"Anytime you play for a championship and win a championship is fantastic," Glenbrook North coach Quin Hayes said. "It is a great accomplishment by our boys and I am proud of them."
Hayes said his team's slow start almost hurt them.
"We came out slow again," Hayes said. "But they never waiver. They have confidence in what we do."
Glenbrook North beat Fremd 58-57 on Dec. 29 in the semifinals of the Wheeling Hardwood Classic.
Fremd (12-7), which had rallied from 17 down in that game, got off to a tremendous start on Monday. Fremd scored the game's first seven points and opened up a 14-2 lead with Cameron Kuhl scoring 10 of those points.
The Vikings continued to attack the Spartans with their lead bulging at 21-8 on a basket by Mark Braun early in the second quarter.
Fremd led 25-14 when Glenbrook North began to trap and pressure the Vikings and chip away at the lead. Led by Ryan Cohen and Josh Fridman, the Spartans forced five Fremd turnovers. That enabled Glenbrook North to close the half on a 13-2 run to tie it at 27-27.
"It was a slow start," said Cohen, who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
"We have had some trouble with that. But we bounced back. We've got lots of guards who play defense and we all like to play defense. We also like getting offensive rebounds and getting on the floor."
The Spartans increased their lead to 37-31 on a basket by Fridman midway though the third quarter. Fremd pulled to within one after a basket by Braun and a three-point play by Ryan Sammons made it 37-26 with 2:25 left in the period.
It was all Glenbrook North from there. The Spartans ran off six unanswered points on their way to a 17-2 run to put the game away with less than two minutes to play.
"We were pleased with our attitude and our approach tonight," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. "They got some things going their way in the third quarter and there was separation. That was a three to four possession game. We could have done some things better, but we were right there."
Braun led Fremd with 11 points. Kuhl had 10 points, Sammons nine points and Ryan Cox finished with seven points,
"We were playing so well together," Braun said. "Just the fourth quarter, they really executed on their plays and we couldn't get the ball to fall. I think the score didn't show how close it was."
Owen Giannoulias added 18 points for Glenbrook North while Fridman chipped in 10 points.