Girls Basketball: Octavia Crump, Zion-Benton rally past Fremd

Updated: February 17, 2012 11:35PM

Zion-Benton proved one thing this week at the Hersey Cass 4A regional. The Zee-Bees can close games.

Two days after scoring the last 17 points to beat Hersey by four points in a regional semifinal, Zion-Benton outscored No. 15 Fremd 23-9 over the final 6:46 to upset the Vikings 66-49 Friday in the regional championship at Arlington Heights.

Octavia Crump led Zion-Benton (20-8) with 26 points and 14 rebounds, including 10 points during the Zee-Bees’ game-breaking run.

“We just don’t want to end our season,” Crump said. “We’ve been around each other for four years and it’s hard to know this could be our last game. We try to come out and fight hard the first quarter, then try to make adjustments in the second quarter.

“When they got within three points in the fourth quarter, we told ourselves we just got to fight,” the 6-foot senior forward added.

Fremd overcame an early 8-3 deficit to lead 18-11 with 5:17 remaining in the second quarter. But Zion-Benton closed the first half on a 16-3 run to take a 27-21 lead at the break. The Zee-Bees continued to pull away in the third quarter, extending to a 37-24 advantage.

But three-pointers by Fremd’s Haley Gorecki and Ashley McConnell and a pair of driving baskets by Jessi Wiedemann got the Vikings within 43-40 with 7:16 remaining in the game. That was as good as it got for the regional’s top seed, which bowed out at 22-6.

“It seemed like we controlled the first half until three minutes left, then after that it went downhill and it went downhill quick,” Fremd coach Dave Yates said. “I was proud of our run in the third quarter, but there were just too many uncharacteristic things going on tonight.”

Kaitlyn Stabenow added 13 points including four three-pointers for Zion-Benton.

“They stuck to the game plan, they crashed the boards, it was the little things,” Zion-Benton coach Tanya Johnson said. “I really felt like if we were committed defensively, we could make it an interesting game.

“I thought Octavia Crump was spectacular,” Johnson added. “I don’t know how many rebounds she had, but she was unbelievable. That’s the kind of talent that kid has. We beat a good team, I think we’re a pretty good team.”

McConnell had 17 points, Gorecki added 12 and Wiedemann exited with 11 for Fremd, which was just 16 of 29 from the free-throw line including 6 of 16 in the first half.

“I’ve never seen our group shoot free throws like that,” Yates said. “I’ve never seen our group be careless with the ball like that. Everything seemed to go their way. Every play seemed to go their way down the stretch.”

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