After senior Josh Fridman scored his 1,000th career point in a game against Deerfield on Jan. 26, the only thing he felt was enraged.
“We did not hit a single three,” said Fridman. “And they played slow, so they were just letting us shoot. And obviously, it’s big to win a conference away game, but it was definitely not a pretty win.”
Fridman scored his 1,000th point on a fast break layup in the second quarter of the game. The team won 43-37.
It is crazy watching Fridman make insane shots and passes in every game he plays in, junior Ryan Weil said.
“He had this one pass [in a game against Evanston Township],” said Weil. “I was on the court … and he was getting fouled, and he threw it backwards to [senior Patrick Schaller]. I had no idea how he even knew [Schaller] was there, and I was just on the court holding my head. I was in shock.”
The team beat Evanston for the second time this season on Jan. 19 with a score of 65-38.
The Spartans also beat New Trier 38-34 at a home game on Jan. 5 after getting knocked out of the sectional final by the Trevians last year.
“[A photo of last year’s New Trier game] is literally my phone background … just for motivation,” said senior Owen Giannoulias. “It feels good when your hard work pays off like that.”
The team faced New Trier for the second time this season on Feb. 9. The Spartans lost the game 67-34.
Everyone on the team can shoot and dribble, which helps the team play spaced out and free,Fridman said.
“The way we play offense, we don’t run many sets,” said Fridman. “It’s all just certain actions, so we’re so hard to scout.”
According to head coach Quin Hayes, his favorite memory is beating Glenbrook South in an away game on Jan. 20.
“Since I’ve been here, we have not done that,” said Hayes. “And I know that even before I was here, it had not happened for a good number of years.”
As of Feb. 15, the team (22-7, 8-2 Central Suburban League South Division) is led in scoring by Fridman, who averages 14.5 points per game. Fridman is verbally committed to play Division III basketball at Illinois Wesleyan University.
“We want to go down state, that’s the main goal, because [when] you go down state, you get to play every game,” said Fridman. “Even if you lose, you get to play every game,” said Fridman. “Even if you lose, you get to play in the third and fourth place game, so we just want to play seven games. That’s the goal.”