Fremd and St. Charles East proved to be a good pairing at the sixth annual Grow the Game Showcase on Saturday morning at Deerfield.

The Saints (9-5) had a chance to win the game in regulation, but a rebound basket attempt at the final buzzer was off the mark, resulting in an overtime session tied at 46-46.

The Vikings (13-3) took advantage of the extra session as a 3-pointer by senior Lucy Kim staked them to a 51-47 lead. Fremd outscored St. Charles East 11-4 in overtime to pull out a hard-fought 57-50 nonconference victory.

Junior Gracie Todd had a big game for Fremd with 17 of her game-high 24 points in the first half. The Vikings trailed 16-13 after one quarter before taking a 29-25 lead into halftime.

The game was tied 37-37 after three quarters. Fremd’s Sophia McMillan hit a free throw with 27.7 seconds to play to force overtime after the Saints could not score on their final possession.

A putback by St. Charles East’s Addie Schilb (10 points) cut the Vikings’ lead to 53-50 with 43 seconds left in overtime. But Todd and teammate Greta Thompson (12 points) combined to go 4 for 4 at the free-throw line in the final 36 seconds to seal the victory.

“St. Charles East is a really good group. They were 9-4 coming in and I’m proud of our girls down the stretch showing a lot of signs of toughness,” said Fremd assistant coach Emily Klaczek, who took over for Jim Weaver for the tourney contest. “(Todd) is a big-time player, and she’s a go-to player who really stepped up big for us today. I think the girls came out strong (in the overtime) and they were able to maintain it so we’re proud of the effort.”

Sophomore Brooklyn Schilb had 13 of her team-high 23 points in the second half for the Saints. Sophomore teammate Kathlyn Bainbridge also hit double figures with 13 points.

“I think we had a really good start in overtime, our team was determined to win, and I think a lot of it speaks to our work ethic because we want to win and we knew we were going to pull it out,” Todd said. “They’re a good team, they’re tough and our team definitely fought through it so I’m proud of us, we did really well.”

Fremd senior Bella Del Mar scored nine points, including a reverse layup to give her squad its biggest lead of the game at 33-25 early in the third quarter.

“It was a very tough loss, just the fact that they’re a great team and we had it in the bag at the end, and unfortunately missed layups, turnovers and missed opportunities, and we lost the game because of that,” said St. Charles East coach Katie Claussner. “Brooklyn (Schilb) is an elite basketball player, she shows up every single game, and she’s a sophomore averaging a double-double so we expect a lot of things from her.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20260103/girls-basketball/girls-basketball-overtime-goes-fremds-way-in-grow-the-game-showcase-vs-st-charles-east/