Palatine boys coach Ed Molitor wasn’t a happy man Saturday night, and with good reason.
Molitor’s Pirates hit just two field goals in the first half, including none in the second quarter, as crosstown rival Fremd rolled to a 41-30 Mid-Suburban North victory.
“We never really got the momentum,” Molitor said. “Our guys got tentative. Tentative in shooting the ball, tentative in getting into shooting position and tentative in passing the ball. We only scored two field goals in the first half. It’s tough to beat a good team when that happens.”
Visiting Fremd, meanwhile, received a lift from an unusual source as Vikings freshman guard Brian Duncan scored a career-high 13 points off the bench.
Fremd (10-3, 3-0) raced out to a 7-2 lead and never trailed as Edward Hebert scored five of his game-high 19 points in the opening minute of play. The Vikings increased their lead to 19-11 at the half as they Palatine (10-5, 1-2) to just five points in the second quarter–all on free throws.
The Pirates’ Andy Bohn (12 points, 6 rebounds) ended the shooting drought with a putback early in the third quarter. By that time Fremd had amassed a 22-11 cushion. Bohn hit his second three-pointer of the quarter to cut the Vikings’ lead to 26-19 with 2 minutes 13 seconds left. But that’s as close as Palatine would get.
The Pirates pulled to within seven points again at the 4:17 mark of the fourth on Bohn’s last basket of the game. But Fremd countered with a 6-0 spurt to take a 39-26 advantage with 1:57 left. Brian Duncan had four points during the run to put the game out of reach.
“I’m getting used to playing a little bit,” said Brian Duncan, the younger brother of Fremd’s starting senior guard Andre. “The coaches told me I could play with them. They told me not to think as a freshman and just play my game.”
The freshman also caught the eye of Fremd coach Mo Tharp.
“Brian really grew tonight,” said Tharp. “He’s done some good things, he’s done some freshman things. His hard work is paying off. We cloned someone before the doctor did.”
Andre Duncan led Fremd with seven rebounds and five steals before fouling out with 1:47 left in the game.
