The coach called his squad a work in progress.

As long as Haley Gorecki is on the floor, Fremd's work in progress will resemble a finished product.

Gorecki scored 10 of her game-high 31 points in the fourth quarter, adding nine rebounds and four steals to lift the Vikings past Joliet Catholic 60-56 in the Chi-Town Showdown at Young on Saturday.

The Duke recruit is averaging 25.4 points a game and has scored at least 20 in nine straight. Her leadership abilities are also growing.

"I think it was a role of being a senior," Gorecki said. "It's something Coach (Dave Yates) has been talking to me about to step up.

"It's good to play in different areas and not play everyone in your conference. It's new faces. It was a different jump in competition."

Fremd (10-1 through Monday) will find itself in truly unfamiliar territory over the next several days at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona.

"We don't need nonconference snoozers that we're going to whip," Yates said. "We need to play teams that are going to challenge us."

The Vikings, ranked No. 2 in the Tribune Top 20, get plenty of challenges in Mid-Suburban League play. They dropped a 47-43 final at Hersey on Dec. 2, and had their hands full in a 46-41 victory at Conant on Thursday.

Grace Tworek, a promising sophomore forward, did not play against Conant or Joliet Catholic because of a knee injury.

"We're hoping for the best," Yates said of Tworek. "We're adjusting. We're on the fly. We're starting to stick kids in different positions. We're a work in progress. We have to defend better. We struggled with keeping people in front of us. We have to be more focused and dialed in."

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