O’Brien: Disciplined Fremd upsets Conant

Hoffman Estates was not the place to be if you wanted to see dunks and a wild, fast-paced basketball game on Friday. No. 24 Fremd entered with a distinct plan and played it to perfection to upset No. 16 Conant 48-37.

“We used Conant’s own strategy against them,” Vikings senior Kyle Sliwa said. “They like to take up full minutes with their possessions.”

Fremd put on a clinic of offensive discipline. The Vikings passed the ball a dozen or even two dozen times on their possessions. Junior Ryan Martin described it as “not settling.” They waited for the perfect shot and every two or three possessions that’s exactly what they got. Fremd (7-0, 2-0 Mid-Suburban West) shot 15-for-33 from the field.

Conant (6-2, 1-1) scored just one basket in the first quarter. The Cougars turned the ball over on their first three possessions. They seemed listless and bewildered throughout the game.

“We did a great job with our attitude right out of the gate,” Fremd coach Bill Widlowski said. “We came to play. We have a lot of respect for Conant. Our players were very focused all week on executing the game plan.”

Conant star Jimmy Sotos dribbled the ball off of his foot with 1:51 to play, his team trailing by 12 points. He shook his head in disbelief, likely realizing there just wasn’t enough time left for his team to complete a comeback.

“Martin did a tremendous job on Sotos,” Widlowski said. [Sotos] is a very good player, a Division I player.”

Fremd led 31-19 at the half. Conant cut the lead to seven early in the third quarter but that was as close as it would get.

“I go against [Sotos] all the time during the summer,” Martin said. “We train together and I kind of know his moves. I wanted to play him tough and force him to take jump shots.”

Sliwa led the Vikings with 15 points. Martin scored nine and Brian Dompke had eight points and seven rebounds. Shaan Patel scored nine points and Luke Schoffstall had two. All five starters functioned as a tremendously cohesive unit.

Conant was billed as the best MSL team in several years, receiving all kinds of preseason hype.

“We didn’t come in scared at all, we are not afraid of Conant,” Sliwa said. “We beat them twice last year. We knew we could play right with them. I think we came out a lot stronger than them, got all the loose balls.”

Sotos finished with 16 points. Ryan Davis, a 6-9 junior, had 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for the Cougars.

There isn’t a shot clock in high school basketball. Several fans in the gym bemoaned that fact throughout the game. But there is a real beauty in the discipline, teamwork and chemistry it takes to pull off the long offensive possessions that Fremd showcased.

“Especially when [the defense has] two big 6-9 kids out there and Sotos, who is long,” Widlowski said. [Fremd’s starters] have played together for a long time, we have a good chemistry. I think they take that to the court. And we have a lot of guys that are experienced. They are comfortable running our stuff and they did it in a big game.”