The Fenwick girls basketball team edged Proviso East 60-57 to win the Niles North Thanksgiving Tournament on Saturday.
Two three-pointers by Sarah Williams in the fourth quarter helped seal the hard-fought victory for the Friars (6-0), who claimed their seventh Niles North tourney title in the last eight years. Kyra Navarette led Fenwick with 17 points, while Williams added 14. Kathleen Roche and freshman Jade Owens each contributed nine points apiece in the win.
The Friars trailed 31-25 at halftime and were down five at the end of the third quarter when Williams got hot from behind the arc. Hannah Ballard also helped cut the deficit down during Fenwick’s surge with a three-point play. Ballard swished in her free throw after being fouled on a made jumpshot.
“We’ve come out of the gate really quick here and I like what I see so far,” said Fenwick head coach Dave Power, who surpassed 800-career wins when his team downed Niles North 65-26 at home on Nov. 26. “Now it’s time to get ready for conference play.”
Along with defeating Niles North, the Friars handed Wheeling and Resurrection losses last week. Navarette scored a career-high 26 points in the win over Resurrection, while Williams added 20 and Roche 19. All three players were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Power, who was honored by Fenwick at an assembly on Monday, now joins Marshall’s Dorothy Gaters as the only high school girls basketball coaches in Illinois with 800 or more victories. He currently holds an 802-206 overall record in 34 years of coaching.
“I didn’t win all those games, the players did,” said Power, who was greeted by several past players before last week’s game against Niles North. “But I suppose it’s a milestone of some type.”
After trips to Loyola and Carmel this week, the Friars return home on Dec. 11 to face Benet (2:30 p.m.).
