The madness of Friday night`s Fremd Class AA sectional title game was clearly what March in Illinois is all about.
It didn`t matter to the host Vikings that they trailed Schaumburg by 14 points early in the first half. They didn`t care that the Saxons seemed to have visions of net-cutting ceremonies dancing through their heads.
No, this gutsy, young Fremd team had other ideas. The number 16 couldn`t have sounded sweeter. The numbers 54-50 enabled the Vikings (24-5) to get there for the first time in the school`s history.
Fremd`s victory earned it a spot in Tuesday`s East Aurora supersectional against Rich Central. ”That was fun,” said Schaumburg coach Ron Cregier, whose team finished at 23-6. ”If you didn`t enjoy yourself watching this one, I don`t think your heart is beating.”
The way Fremd coach Mo Tharp saw it, his team wasn`t alive in the early going. His timeout with 6 minutes 9 seconds left in the second quarter began the turnaround.
”We weren`t playing very well at that point,” said Tharp. ”I told them that they were playing the worst this year. But I also told them that Schaumburg couldn`t stay that hot. They were playing their best.”
With 5:49 left in the first half, the Vikings came to life. They outscored Schaumburg 21-7 the rest of the half and led 32-30 at intermission. The lead constantly changed hands for much of the second half, and it wasn`t until sophomores Jason Joseph and George Poorman each converted one-and-one situations that the outcome was decided.
”We`re not individuals, we`re a team,” said Joseph, who led all scorers with 18 points. ”Marcus Green stopped me in the first quarter. I was 0 for 3. We just changed offenses. We ran a motion offense, and I stayed outside.
”In the second quarter, we went into what we call a flex, where we rotated, and I was able to get underneath. I just got good passes and got the points.”
Jim Weil, who had 11 points, was the only other Fremd player in double figures. Mike Everitt of Schaumburg had 16, Green 11 and Brian O`Connell 10.
Tharp believes another turning point occurred with his team down 8-2 midway in the opening quarter.
”Our kids thought we had to make up the points, and we started pressing,” Tharp said. ”They got out of synch. I told them to take it easy, and the points would come. We had to get the fast break going. We had to go to our running game.
”We were able to run a little more than Schaumburg. I don`t know why. They might have gotten a little rest, but we were the ones who came out playing well to start the second half. I guess their defense just got tired.
