it was a full night for Fremd in the first of their two annual games with crosstown rival Palatine.
It was not just the roundball version of the “Battle of the Tracks.” It was also brain cancer awareness night celebrating “One community, one cause.”
The rivalry and the successful special fundraiser helped nearly fill the Fremd gym. They got to watch as the host Vikings outdueled Palatine 52-42 in the MSL West opener for both teams.
It was the first home win for Fremd head coach Mike Brown, who took over the varsity reins after 8 years as the head sophomore coach.
“It was really cool,” Brown said. “And it was a great environment for a great cause. Our guys handled the environment well against a just a really good opponent.”
Fremd had three players in double figures and got solid play from others. The Vikings (4-1, 1-0) recovered from being outrebounded 10-4 in the first quarter to outrebounding Palatine 21-13 in the final three quarters and win the battle on the boards 25-23.
“There was a lot of pressure and a lot of intensity,” Brown said. “We really talked about rebounding. They are a load on the glass and they go after the ball hard. We made some nice adjustments and that was good that our guys figured it out in the second quarter.”
Rafael Pinto, who is 6-foot-5, had a big night for the Vikings. The junior finished with a game-high 19 points, 13 of which came in the fourth quarter as Fremd opened up a 17-point lead.
“I had a lot of my teammates looking for me with that zone,” Pinto said. “We practiced that all week. We were going over this and finally game time we were ready.”
Samuel Hirsch had 13 points for Fremd while Jordan Williams, who was battling Palatine’s Tony Balanganayi all evening, finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds.
“We know this is a rivalry game,” Williams said. “It is also our first conference game. So we know there is great expectations. It was also good to get coach Brown his first conference win and win on our home court.”
Led by Balanganayi, Palatine (3-2, 0-1) led 9-6 late in the first quarter.
Fremd then regrouped. The Vikings scored the next 8 points on their way to a 15-2 run to open a 21-11 lead on a 3-pointer by Chase Nelson. Palatine never got closer than 7 from there.
“They got some skill players and some length to go along with those skill players,” Palatine coach Eric Millstone said. “So, if you are not opportunistic offensively, it is going to be a long night. We got beat by a pretty good team tonight.”
Balanganayi led Palatine with 18 points and 8 rebounds. Brady May came off the bench to score 8 points while Darrin Dick had 6 points and Carter Monroe 5 points.
Nelson and Ryan Brown each had 5 points for Fremd while Tommy Moffett had 8 rebounds.