There was method amid the basketball madness in the Fremd gymnasium Friday night.
”Get the ball to Jason Joseph,” was the message Fremd coach Mo Tharp gave his players going into their Class AA sectional championship game with Schaumburg before a roaring capacity crowd.
”We wanted to go to Joseph early to see if they had anyone who could stop him,” Tharp said afterward.
Schaumburg didn`t.
Scoring repeatedly from short range, the 6-foot-4-inch senior piled up 30 points to lead Fremd to an 86-65 victory in a game that was never in doubt. Eight of Joseph`s points came in the opening quarter, and 16 were scored in the first half as Fremd (28-1) advanced to Tuesday`s De Kalb supersectional in whirlwind style.
Joseph got a lot of help from his friends. Joe Schwantz, a 6-3, 205-pound junior, dominated the backboards and bulled his way inside to score 16 points. Todd Leslie had 12 points and triggered some early fast-break baskets with his passing, while fellow guard George Poorman tallied 11 and
quarterbacked the go-go offense.
”They like to run, and we wanted to run with them,” said Leslie, a 6-4 junior. ”We had a lot of three-on-one situations. The home crowd helped a lot, too.”
”It was my last home game, and I was sky-high,” said Joseph. ”I was hoping I wouldn`t get too high and tense up. I missed my first shot, but then the baskets started coming. We thought we`d be in good shape if we had 40 points by halftime.”
At intermission, Fremd led 45-31, and coach Ron Cregier of Schaumburg
(19-10) could see the handwriting on the wall.
”They didn`t do anything different,” said Cregier, whose team lost to Fremd 77-67 earlier in a Mid-Suburban League game.
”We were hoping to contain Joseph. Obviously, we didn`t do a good job, but one game doesn`t make a season, considering where we came from. We were 2-7 in the middle of December.
”I see Fremd a lot on cable TV, and I`m probably their No. 1 fan. They`re the most mentally tough team I`ve seen. They don`t crack. As a coach, I really appreciate their mental toughness.
”They find ways to win, especially George Poorman. With 4,000-5,000 people in the house screaming their lungs out the way they were tonight, there`s not a whole lot of bench coaching. Poorman`s great leadership showed.”
