Accurate free throw shooting in the final quarter of the Fenwick boys basketball team’s showdown with Gordon Tech on Friday night in Oak Park led the Friars to a 59-50 victory.
Fenwick (12-8, 3-3), who let slip a 12-point lead at one point in the game, nailed 10-of-10 from the charity stripe in the fourth and Ryan Harbour
scored five straight points to help the Friars earn their third Catholic
League North win. Fenwick shot a season-high 34 free throws in the game, connecting on 23.
“We tend to have a spurt of about three or four minutes where we just don’t
play well, which is not as bad as it was earlier in the season,” said Fenwick head coach John Quinn. “Earlier in the season it was more like a bad quarter usually did us in or forced us to battle back.”
Sophomore Xavier Humphrey led the Friars with 15 points, while Larry Walker added 13. John Comfort came off the bench for Fenwick to score a career high 11 points. Comfort also made two key free throws in the final minute of the game to put his team up by four.
The Friars welcomed the return of starting guard Newman Delany, who had missed nearly two weeks of action due to illness. Delany played sparingly against Gordon Tech, but is expected back fulltime when the Friars travel to Leo on Friday night.
“It’s good to have Newman back in the game,” said Quinn. “Not only is he a senior leader on the team, but he’s one of our best defensive players.”
On Jan. 30, the Friars fell to second-ranked Loyola Academy 69-54. Fenwick was led by Humphrey, who finished with 12 points. Derek Tartt added 11 points for the Friars, who were in foul trouble for much of the contest.
Jeffery Jordan and Peter Sullivan led the Ramblers with 16 points apiece.
The Friars have had a week off from competition. After the Leo game, they’ll return home to host Quigley for Senior Night on Saturday (7:30 p.m.).