Fremd makes it a happy homecoming for coach Brown

Growing up and playing basketball at Schaumburg High School, Fremd coach Mike Brown knows first hand how difficult it is to win in Schaumburg’s gym.

“This place is always special to me,” said Brown, who was a three-year starter for the Saxons in the mid 90’s.

“I spent so much time in that gym and have so many great memories. But tonight was about trying to get a win against a real tough team.”

And just like their head coach, Fremd scrapped and battled, building a 20-point lead. The Vikings then had to hold off a surging Schaumburg team in the final 10 minutes to post a 72-60 win.

Fremd (9-1, 3-0) remained atop the MSL West with the victory. But the Vikings had to overcome 19 turnovers, 7 of which came in the opening quarter.

“We are pleased by how we played,” Brown said. “We were just trying to get a win here tonight. We knew we were going to get a big-time fight from them. Which they really gave.”

Schaumburg (6-3, 0-3), which needed a win in order not to fall out of the MSL West race, played like that in the first quarter. With Zion Young and Jordan Tunis leading the way, the Saxons were able to battle Fremd to a 14-14 tie after one quarter.

Rafael Pinto then came out red hot to begin the second quarter to give Fremd a much-needed lift. The 6-foot-5 junior scored 10 points in the opening 2:14 as the Vikings pulled ahead 24-20.

“I had my teammates looking for me,” said Pinto, who would finish with 18 points. “Once I get hot it is good for everyone because they can get assists. I was in foul trouble early, so I was a little frustrated. But once I got back on the court I got fired up.”

With Schaumburg forced to pay more attention defensively to Pinto, that opened up the rest of the court for the Vikings.

No one took more advantage of that than Jordan Williams. The junior hit a three-pointer and scored a pair of baskets down the final stretch of the first half as the Vikings built a 36-27 advantage.

Schaumburg cut the lead to 39-32 early in the third quarter on a three-pointer by Ray Black.

The Vikings went on a 15-2 run to break the game open. Williams took a rebound on the defensive end and went coast-to-coast and finished with a driving layup to make it 54-34 with 2:41 left in the third quarter.

“Our coaches had us really prepared,” said Williams, who finished with 23 points and 5 rebounds. “They just do a great job getting us ready. The practice is very hard so the game is easy.”

Schaumburg picked up the tempo in an attempt to get back in the game.

The Saxons forced 7 turnovers from there. Led by Tunis, who would finish with 22 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter, Schaumburg closed to 67-60 with 1:10 to play.

Fremd then used free throw throws by Samuel Hirsch (13 points), Ryan Brown (8 points) and Pinto to put the game away.

“We knew that coach Brown played high school ball here, so we wanted to get the ‘W’ for him,” Williams said. “We aren’t satisfied by how we finished. But obviously, it could have been worse.”

Tommy Moffett added 8 points for Fremd while Young finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds and Cam Anderson came off the bench to score 8 points.

“The third quarter killed us,” Schaumburg coach Jason Tucker said. “We should have been pressuring them from the beginning. We have got a lot better in the last week. Credit to our guys, they never stopped fighting tonight.”