One of the major changes in the area this basketball season is in the Mid-Suburban League. For decades, the conference was divided into two geographical divisions. The East and West winner met at the end of the season in the area’s best suburban conference championship. It was a meaningful title game in front of a big crowd every year.
This year the geographic setup was scrapped, and the strongest basketball programs were all placed in the Mid-Suburban League West. Fans and coaches did not like the move, but one positive in the new alignment is the MSL West teams have a much stronger strength of schedule.
The regular matchups between the conference’s three ranked teams brought a bit more media attention and theoretically will make the teams much stronger in the playoffs.
“I really like the new conference,” Fremd senior Jordan Williams, an ISU recruit, said. “It is definitely a lot more competitive. Every game is a battle.”
Williams, a 6-6 guard, helped lead the No. 14 Vikings to a 67-63 win against No. 20 Hersey on Tuesday in Palatine. He finished with 16 points and five assists.
“In the first half I was able to get to the rim and in the second half I could tell they made an adjustment,” Williams said. “The defense was really focused on me so I had to make the right reads and get the team involved.”
Fremd (15-1, 4-1) led by 12 with 6:14 left in the game but Hersey is one of the area’s most dangerous three-point shooting teams. The Huskies made three three-pointers in a 17-5 run to tie the game at 60 on a three from Charlie Pomis (20 points, eight rebounds) with 2:15 left.
Williams assisted senior guard Chase Nelson on a three on Fremd’s next possession, and the Vikings never trailed again.
“Even when we were up double digits, we had the mentality that they were going to come back,” Williams said. “They fight hard and are very athletic.”
Rafael Pinto, a 6-5 senior, led Fremd with 19 points.
“Pinto didn’t care that the three ball wasn’t going in and he was doing other things to help our team win like play defense, get steals and go to the basket,” Vikings coach Mike Brown said. “That was really good for him and his growth.”
Nelson scored 18 and senior Tommy Moffett added 14 points and eight rebounds.
“We’ve been playing together for a long time, and we have a lot of leadership and play for each other,” Pinto said. ““Everyone has their games when they are on and scoring.”
Senior guard Logan Luxem scored 16 for Hersey (14-3, 4-1) and Eli Levya added 12 points off the bench.
Hersey, Fremd and Palatine each have one conference loss.
“You never know what is going to happen and you are just trying to get better as the season goes on, but this was a big game for our team,” Brown said.
Fremd lost to Rolling Meadows in the sectional final last season. This is basically the same group, and they have their eyes on several more wins in the playoffs this year.
“We are thinking state,” Williams said. “We were two games away last year and we are looking to get back to that position and win. Get to state.”