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Girls basketball: Fremont pressures Syracuse in important Region 1 victory

By Bob Judson - Special to the Standard-Examiner | Jan 21, 2022

SYRACUSE — Sixty-one consecutive region wins and counting.

On paper, Fremont (No. 4 RPI) faced its toughest test this season against No. 6 Syracuse on Friday, but the results were the same as they have been the past five years.

And if the ratings are accurate, there is a huge gap between the Silverwolves and the rest of the 6A girls basketball teams listed below them.

Fremont remained unbeaten in Region 1 play (still), posting a strong second quarter to run up a double-digit lead, then coasted to a 54-34 road victory over the Titans.

“We expected a tough ball game; they’re a good region competitor,” Fremont senior guard Mia Austin said. “We prepared for them like we prepare for anyone coming in.”

The Silverwolves (14-2, 5-0 Region 1) have not lost a league game since January 31, 2017, against Sky View but don’t dwell on the streak.

“I haven’t thought about that for a long time; we see it on social media. It’s more like other people telling us, but we don’t talk about it that much,” Austin said.

Both teams had a hard time getting untracked early and when Syracuse’s Danielle Steed banked in a three-pointer with 3:02 left in the initial quarter, that was the way it ended — a 7-6 Titan lead.

But the seasoned Silverwolves didn’t panic.

“We just had to stay calm. We knew it was going to be a battle so we kept the same mentality throughout the whole game, no matter the score. Keep our emotions even,” Austin said.

Austin then took over, scoring six points in the first 2:18 of the second stanza as Fremont took a 14-9 lead.

She then capped the quarter with a 3 and Fremont fired a full-court press at the Titans, capturing the period 16-4 to go up 22-11 at the break.

“We pressured the ball more and got up on them to see if it would help us out, and it did,” Austin said. “We started playing team defense. We’d pressure; someone would get a steal and everyone started to click and I happened to be the one getting the fast-break layups.”

Timea Gardiner led the Silverwolves with 18 points — 12 in the second half to help keep the Titans at bay — Maggie Mendelson scored 15, nine after the break, and Austin also checked in at 15, including nine in that second quarter run.

Syracuse (12-3, 3-2) continued to struggle in the third with its third straight single-digit quarter and trailed 37-19 with eight minutes to go.

“We scouted them pretty good and knew that press would come; I thought we were ready for it but I’m disappointed in the way we handled it,” Syracuse coach Braden Hamblin said. “I thought that was the difference in the game. We need to fix some things on our end.”

The Titans were their own worst enemies with 26 turnovers in the game, but finally found a spark and played a strong fourth quarter, scoring 15 points — nearly their total through the first three.

“Our girls came down to the end and decided they were going to be aggressive and take it to the hole, and go through contact, and we were able to get a few foul calls and get some points at the free-throw line,” Hamblin said. “That mentality needed to be through all four quarters, not just at the end when we have nothing to lose.”

Gracie Sorenson had a strong second half with eight points and finished with 14 for the Titans, while Steed netted six points.

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