Fremont cruises into title game

OGDEN — Three months later, Fremont is right where everyone figured it would be.

The overwhelming preseason No. 1 according to 5A's coaches beat Skyline 54-47 Friday night to advance to Saturday's state championship.

The Silver Wolves will face a West Jordan team that nobody thought would be in the finals.

"These last two games with Alta and Skyline, and even the first-round game with Granger, they were all nailbiters," said Fremont's Ryan Sanchez, who finished with 15 points. "It is a relief to get there. We're not satisfied with just getting there, we want to win the state championship."

To win, Fremont will need to play defense like it did against Skyline.

The Eagles owned a significant height advantage with 6-foot-8 center Nate Bendall, and Fremont coach Bernie Graziano was genuinely concerned about how his team would handle it.

"Going into this game we felt it would take a great effort with their interior game," said Graziano. "Bendall is such a big presence."

It began with denying him the ball down low, and ended with the 6-foot-4 Joel Hancock bodying him up once he received the ball.

Bendall struggled with the pressure in the first half, only making 3-of-8 field goals. As a result, the Silver Wolves outscored the Eagles 15-6 in the second quarter, which included a buzzer-beating jumper by Ryan Sanchez as Fremont went into the locker room up 26-17.

"We had a bad second quarter, we lost our composure a little," said Skyline coach Paul Jeppeson.

Fremont's momentum carried over into the second half as it jumped out to a 39-25 lead late in the third quarter. It took that double-digit deficit for the Eagles' shots to finally start dropping.

Skyline scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, and by the 2:48 mark a 3-pointer by Parker Hackett whittled Fremont's lead to 46-43. Skyline's defense forced Fremont into a turnover on the next possession, but it couldn't capitalize on the breakaway lay-up, and fouled Fremont's Clint Russell on the rebound attempt.

During those final 2 1/2 minutes, the Wolves made 8-of-10 free throws to seal their place in Saturday's championship at 7:30 p.m.

"We just try and focus on what we do," said Graziano. "The kids' frame of mind is terrific right now."

Hancock led Fremont with 16 points, while Skyline's Bendall led all scorers with 18.

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E-mail: jedward@desnews.com