Girls Basketball: Rolling Meadows stuns Fremd

First, Rolling Meadows thought it had won. Then, Fremd players and fans began to celebrate. Finally, Rolling Meadows realized it had won.

What did Rolling Meadows sophomore Alexis Glasgow think?

“I’m happy the shot went in,” she said.

The confusion was caused by an official who ran off the floor waving his arms, which some interpreted to mean he was waving off the Glasgow’s final shot, a driving layup through the lane with time winding down, and no indication to the scoring table that the basket counted.

But once it was determined that the basket had indeed beaten the buzzer, Meadows was finally able to enjoy its first-ever Mid-Suburban League title.

Sophomore Jackie Kemph scored 18 points, Glasgow finished with 15 points and 6-foot-1 sophomore Jenny Vliet added 11 points and six rebounds as Rolling Meadows (24-4) stunned No. 14 Fremd, 52-51, in the Mid-Suburban League championship game Wednesday in Palatine.

Meadows drew up the final play with 14.8 seconds left in overtime after the first of two Bernie Williams free throws tied the game for Fremd at 50-50. Williams, a 44 percent free throw shooter, made the second, and the play that Meadows coach Todd Hatfield drew up quickly fell apart down.

“Glasgow’s shot was a broken play,” Hatfield said. “We sat Alexis for a while in the third quarter because we thought she was settling for outside jumpers. We sat her for two minutes and really got on her about getting back to the rim.

“She went to the rim at the biggest moment and came up with the biggest shot,” he said.

Glasgow hit three three-pointers early in the game, her last giving Meadows a 25-23 early in the second quarter after the Mustangs trailed 17-9 midway through the first. But her outside shot abandoned her later, and when the lane opened up with time winding down, she didn’t hesitate.

“I saw an opening and I didn’t even know who much time was left,” she said. “I had the open shot. I didn’t hit a three in the whole second half. I wanted to go straight to the hole. It was a great atmosphere. It was really fun.”

The Vikings had a chance to win after Rolling Meadows tied the game at 47-47 with 48 seconds remaining in regulation. But Jessi Wiedemann’s three-pointer from the top of the key at the horn fell off the side of the rim.

Freshman Haley Gorecki led Fremd (21-5) with 20 points and eight rebounds, and Ashley McConnell added 19 points. However, Wiedemann, whose three-pointer gave the hosts a 20-14 late in the first quarter, did not score over the final 31 minutes of play.

“We were waiting for a good shot (at the end of regulation),” Fremd coach Dave Yates said. “We were on our kids during that whole end-of-the-game situation about not rushing. We’ll get the shot. We’ll wait for the shot. It will come. I had no problem with that.

“That was a good shot,” he added about Wiedemann’s three-point attempt. “That was a good look. You got to go with the kids you believe in.”

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