A second chance. Lake Zurich has been living on one since the Class 4A playoffs began. The Bears continued to use that extra opportunity Tuesday when they stunned second-seeded Fremd 42-33 in the semifinals of the Class 4A Warren girls basketball sectional in Gurnee.

No. 2 seeded Fremd made it nine regional girls basketball crowns in 11 seasons with a convincing 54-29 triumph over No. 10 Palatine Thursday night.

It wasn’t the championship game for Mid-Suburban League girls basketball on Tuesday but it sure was of championship caliber. State-ranked Hersey and host Fremd went down to the wire and the MSL second-place crossover required overtime before the Vikings survived 58-55 in a rematch of last March’s title game won by Hersey.

Sycamore senior guard Faith Feuerbach scored 13 points, Carlsen tossed in 12, Ella Shipley added 11 points and Evyn Carrier had 10 points in a thrilling 49-47 nonconference girls basketball win over Fremd in Sycamore Saturday.

St. Viator senior Joy Bergstrom, a four-year starter, became the Lions’ all-time leading girls basketball scorer last week. With her 18 points in a 60-45 loss to Carmel, Bergstrom reached 1,696 for her four seasons, including her junior campaign which was cut in half due to COVID-19.

After prevailing 57-55 in double overtime two weeks ago against Conant, you might say Fremd’s girls basketball team was more zoned in this time. Led by junior Maddy Fay (11 points), sophomore Brynn Eshoo (11) and junior Kace Urlacher (10), the host Vikings kept the suspense out of this one with a 53-25 triumph in the Mid-Suburban West.

Fremd posted a lopsided 61-24 Mid-Suburban West girls basketball win over Palatine on Friday night.

On Friday in Hoffman Estates, the Strauch vs. Strauch Mid-Suburban West girls basketball match takes place again, just one week after Conant coach Todd Strauch and his Cougars edged Schaumburg coach Jacqie Strauch’s Saxons, 42-38.

Sophie Swanson scored a career-high 40 points Tuesday night to lead Barrington to a 62-47 girls basketball win over Fremd.

One of the Northwest suburbs’ girls basketball teams currently on the biggest roll is Maine South, which has won eight of its last nine games through Monday.

When teams return to Mid-Suburban League girls basketball action on Friday night, Fremd and Prospect will each hold one-game leads in their respective West and East divisions. And the two teams will hardly be void of momentum. They are the only two from the conference who are coming off championship runs at holiday tournaments.

Brianna Wooldridge is officially back. Three years ago, in her freshman season, Wooldridge established herself as one of the emerging players in the state. Wooldridge scored a game-high 23 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 assists to power a second-half surge that led Fremd to an improbable 46-40 win over Geneva in the championship game of the inaugural Morton College Girls Basketball Christmas Tournament Thursday.

Fremd experienced a dose of good news and bad news in the last week. The Vikings welcomed back senior forward Brianna Wooldridge to the court last week. Wooldridge, an IUPUI recruit, missed the first six weeks of the season. The return of the 6-foot-2 Wooldridge immediately vaults the Vikings into consideration for the Class 4A state team, combining with Maddy Fay and Kace Urlacher to form a solid frontcourt. But the Vikings lost star freshman guard Ella Todd, who has picked up offers from Michigan, Purdue and Pittsburgh in the last three weeks, when she suffered an ankle injury before the start of the iInaugural Morton College Girls Basketball Christmas Tournament. So, in essence, the Vikings were back to the same spot — forced to play without one of their top players, again. And again, the Vikings proved they were not affected by the loss of an elite player, relying on a 10-minute scoring blitz that started late in the second quarter to record a 61-41 win over Marist in the semifinals on Wednesday night in Cicero.

Girls basketball teams from the Northwest suburbs will be looking for championships at three holiday tournaments that begin on Monday of next week.

The Fremd freshman has been making big shots all season. But none were bigger than the one Ella Todd hit with one second left on Friday night in the Palatine gymnasium. The ninth grader, playing in only her 13th varsity game, took a pass just inside the 3-point line from senior guard Anna Schmitt. Todd dribbled forward about three times and then launched a 14-foot pull-up jumper from the elbow that fell through, lifting Fremd to a dramatic 29-27 triumph over the Pirates, who led nearly every step of the way in the Mid-Suburban League West girls basketball game.

Unlike 12 months ago, the vans carrying girls basketball teams will be back on the roads again this winter. Area teams are back in action for holiday tournaments after missing out last December due to COVID-19.

Fremd girls basketball coach Dave Yates does not shy away from playing tough nonconference games on Saturday afternoons.Case in point — the Vikings hosted Winnebago, the top-ranked team in Class 2A, on this particular Saturday. Fremd, which started four underclassmen, fell 67-60 in overtime to the unbeaten Indians.

Fremd junior forward Maddy Fay wanted to send a message late in Tuesday’s game against Montini. After the two teams combined for 11 points, including 3 3-pointers, in the final 59 seconds of regulation to force overtime, Fay put her own stamp on the game by going to work in the paint. Fay scored the first 4 points of the overtime to lift the Vikings to a thrilling 65-63 overtime win over the Broncos at the Exam Jamm hosted by Lake Zurich.

Less than 15 hours after a big Mid-Suburban West homecourt victory over rival Barrington, Fremd’s girls basketball team was right back on its own floor to compete in the Chicagoland Invitational Classic on Saturday afternoon. Lyons Township (5-1) was able to rally from a 16-6 first-quarter deficit and take a 47-39 triumph from the Vikings (6-3), who had edged Barrington 40-39 before a big crowd on Friday night.

Nikki Gonnella handled the rowdy atmosphere like it was common place, sinking 3 free throws in the final 21 seconds that proved to be the difference in Fremd’s 40-39 Mid-Suburban West opening win between two girls basketball teams expected to battle for the league title.

When Glenbrook North won the Maine East Thanksgiving tourney last week, among the smiling faces for the Spartans was assistant coach Steve Weissenstein. Yes, Weissenstein the former hall of fame Glenbrook South girls basketball coach.

The final 10 seconds of the third-place game at the York tournament on Friday night had enough drama to match a soap opera. First, it was sophomore guard Stella Kohl hitting two free throws to give the host Dukes a 48-44 lead over Fremd with 9.4 seconds left. The Vikings hustled back down the floor and got within 1 point with one second left when senior JilI Sheehan hit a 3-pointer. After a timeout, Sheehan barely missed becoming the hero as she intercepted the inbounds pass at halfcourt and quickly fired up a 50-foot shot that just missed, hitting the back of the rim and caroming off to the side to seal the suspense-filled 48-47 win for York.

Torrie Kortan showed her veteran poise, shrugging off her first-game frustrations with a stellar showing on Tuesday. Kortan drilled three 3-pointers for a team-high 13 points to lead St. Charles East to a 49-44 victory over Fremd at the York Thanksgiving Tournament in Elmhurst.

Here’s a look at the girls basketball season in the Mid-Suburban West.