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Sports

Vikings Score Biggest Win of the Season

In its most lopsided victory of the season, Fremd downed No. 22 seed Round Lake 57-17 in the IHSA Class 4A Regional Semifinals on Wednesday night in Palatine.

For the first time in more than 12 years, Fremd High School is hosting an IHSA state-series boys' basketball regional. The Vikings advanced Wednesday with a dominating 51-17 win over the upstart Round Lake Panthers. On Frdiay Fremd will host Lake Forest in the Regional Championship.

 "This is our gym - you have to come in here and run with us," said Fremd Senior Zach Monaghan. "We're ready. We look forward to playing them and having a good Regional Championship on Friday."

Wednesday Monaghan scored the game's first five-points, and after Daniel Uriostegui (nine-points) cut the Panthers' deficit to 5-2, the Vikings closed the first quarter on a 9-0 run. After the opening frame, Fremd never looked back. Monaghan finished with 18 points, four-assists and three-steals while center Jack Konopka tallied a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

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 "I was the biggest kid out there so I wanted to dominate the glass regardless of who they put in the game," said Konopka. "I knew I was going to get touches in the paint, but I really wanted to control the boards."

 No. 5 seed Fremd (18-9) finished with a commanding 32-16 advantage on the boards, a stat that head coach Bob Widlowski attributed to his team's strong defensive effort, especially from point guard Quinton Brown (12 points, five-rebounds).

"We were asking him to step up and he did the job tonight," said Widlowski, whose team forced 14 turnovers and led by 24-points at the half. "That's the way it has to be for us to be successful at a high level and it carried through to the rest of our guys.

"We were up 30-6, but that became 0-0 after halftime. We wanted to win every quarter, and there were times that we had them stuck on a number - we had them at four for a while, at six, and our guys kept fighting and trying to hold them to that number."

Not only did the Vikings win every quarter, they never even allowed the 22nd seeded Panthers to score in double figures, holding Round Lake (7-21) to just two points in both the first and fourth period.

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The Vikings' will to win was evident, especially after last season's early exit; Fremd, the No. 3 seed in 2010, was upset by No. 13 Schaumburg on the Saxons' home floor in the regional semis.

"Of course we remember it," Konopka said. "The seniors had it in the back of their minds and we definitely came out with a chip on our shoulder tonight."

Now Fremd has the task of facing yet another surprise opponent in No. 13 seed Lake Forest, which beat Lake Zurich on Monday before upsetting No. 4 seed Zion-Benton on Tuesday.

Tip off between the Vikings and Scouts is slated for 7:30 p.m. in Palatine.

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