A rally-killing, mid-game fire alarm, followed by a desperation surge by Larkin, were not enough to overcome red-hot Fremd on Friday, as the host Vikings won their 15th consecutive game and a regional title by a 56-40 score.
The Vikings advanced to a Hersey Class AA sectional semifinal matchup Wednesday against Rolling Meadows.
Fremd (24-3) appeared ready to blow the game open midway through the third quarter when a fire alarm halted play for 15 minutes while everyone left the building. An eight-point run, highlighted by a pair of baskets by Alvin Wang, had just given the Vikings their biggest lead of the game, 36-16, with 4 minutes 54 seconds remaining in the period. Fremd had connected on 4 of 6 shots at the time, but finished the period with a 1-for-9 slump.
In the meantime, Larkin (15-13) scurried to post eight unanswered points to close the quarter down 40-28.
“I don’t want to make an excuse about the delay,” Fremd guard Andre Duncan said, “but we relaxed after that. We lost some intensity.”
Five minutes into the fourth quarter, the Royals drew within eight points on a trey by Deryn Carter (19 points). Duncan, however, stole an inbounds pass–and the momentum–a minute later. He scored on a layup and hit a free throw to complete the three-point play and put the Vikings on top 50-37 with just under 2 minutes remaining.
“We try to use our defense to force turnovers. I saw the man taking the pass had his back to me and I slipped between him and the ball,” Duncan added.
All-conference teammate Eddie Hebert, who had been silent through most of the game, connected on 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch and scored 11 fourth-quarter points to finish with 21.
“They did a nice job on Eddie early in the game, and we weren’t hitting our shots,” Fremd coach Mo Tharp said. “Eddie took over in the fourth quarter when he needed to.”
Neither team mounted much on offense in the first quarter as Fremd took a 12-6 lead. A pair of three-pointers by Roy Pederson helped the Vikings widen the gap to 28-16 at intermission, but the key to Fremd’s offense was the driving ability of Duncan, who scored 11 of his 16 points in the first half. Three of his moves led to buckets, and another two resulted in four free throws.
“They (Larkin) played aggressive defense. I haven’t seen anyone who can stop Andre when they’re playing up on him,” Tharp added.
While game films won’t show Fremd’s usual crisp passing and deft outside shooting, Tharp was pleased with his team’s ability to rally in the fourth quarter and win by 16 points. Fremd connected on just 16 of 42 shots, and only 4 of 15 from beyond the arc. The difference, according to Duncan, was the team’s defense, which forced 17 turnovers and held Larkin to just 15 buckets in 45 attempts.
“We forced some big turnovers and converted them into baskets,” said the senior guard. “Even when we could not score on offense, our defense kept up the pressure.”
In addition to his game-high scoring honors, Hebert paced both teams with 10 rebounds. Pederson finished with nine points on 3-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
John Alesch and James Westbrook added seven and six points, respectively, for Larkin.
