Boys basketball: Brown’s big night helps Fremd avenge Barrington loss, win MSL West

None of Ryan Brown’s game-high 28 points brought Fremd’s crowded house down like the Fremd senior’s dazzling third-quarter pass against Barrington did Friday night.

Brown — the Vikings’ 6-foot-4, team-first guard — shoved a confident bounce pass through rush-hour-ish lane traffic that found a cutting Jordan Williams, who executed a hard spin move en route to a bucket in Fremd’s 64-52 boys hoops victory on Senior Night that ended up Mid-Suburban League West Championship Night for the hosts.

The exquisite sequence in Palatine put the Vikes up 38-28 after Barrington (15-7, 6-3 in the MSL West) had knotted matters at 28-28 in the first minute of the frame.

“Aggressive teams usually win,” Brown said, alluding to his high-risk, high-reward delivery that belongs in ESPN’s Top 10 Plays segment.

“This was tough tonight because we’d been dealing with a lot of sickness during the week,” added the son of Fremd first-year coach Mike Brown. “The plan was to focus on being together as a team the whole night. To win one of the best divisions in the state, with a lot of juniors, is special. But our goal is to win the MSL.

“We’re one win away.”

Fremd (23-2, 8-1), which avenged a 72-63 loss at Barrington on Jan. 10, clinched its first divisional title since 2019 and 12th overall, including years when the league featured North and South divisions.

Mike Brown helped Schaumburg’s Saxons net an MSL South title when he was a sophomore guard in the mid-1990s.

“I’m really proud of this team,” said the coach, whose squad — ranked No. 3 in the Daily Herald’s Top 20 — raced to a 16-4 lead in the first quarter behind his son’s 12 points, led only 28-23 at the break and survived a breathless, 8-point, 31-second burst from Broncos junior forward Oliver Gray that pared Fremd’s advantage to 50-42 at 5:24 of the fourth quarter.

Gray poured in all 15 of his points in the final 8 minutes for No. 10 Barrington.

“That takes a lot of courage, performing the way Oliver did after going scoreless in the first three quarters,” Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said. “But he wants that kind of pressure. Tough kid.

“All of our kids are tough.”

Fremd’s tough, smooth Williams scored 14 points, 7 in the final quarter, with one basket coming off another sweet dime from Ryan Brown.

Brown thrilled Vikings Nation again at the outset of the fourth quarter, quickly recovering the ball that had been stripped from his mitts and going right up to connect for a layup.

That crowd-pleaser expanded Fremd’s lead to a seemingly comfy 48-31 cushion.

But no. Barrington kept hanging around, hanging around, hanging around. The visitors trailed 50-42 after that explosive stretch by Gray and found themselves down 60-52 with just under a minute remaining.

Senior forward Bruce LeBlanc tallied 14 for Barrington and classmate Gus Edstrom finished with 11.

Fremd guard Sam Hirsch — one of only 3 seniors honored Friday night — scored 8 points. Juniors Rafael Pinto and Tommy Moffett had 6 points apiece for the MSL West champs.

The night belonged to Ryan Brown, but he’d be the first to swat that praise halfway up a bank of bleachers.

Friday night, he’d insist, was all about F-R-E-M-D.

“Fremd,” Tucker said, “is so talented. “They came out and took it to us.

“Ryan Brown,” he added, “had a Senior Night he’ll never forget. The kid shot well, passed well, defended well, ran their offense well. Other than that … .”