While its record of 1-2 at the 51st Annual Proviso West Holiday Tournament shouldn’t exactly be looked as a success for the Fenwick boys basketball team, the experience the young Friars gained facing some formidable opponents should.
Fenwick (4-7), which boasts just three seniors on its roster, made it as far as the semifinals of the consolation bracket before Hinsdale Central ended its holiday fun by handing the Friars a 64-50 loss. Fenwick trailed by just eight at halftime, but couldn’t get much offensive production going thereafter. A three-pointer by Brad Anlauf with 4:23 left in the game put the Red Devils up 12 points.
Anlauf finished with 14 points, while Tom Garvin led all scorers with 27 points.
Sam Ainsworth led the Friars with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Luke Lattner finished with 11 points. The Friars missed all 10 of their three-point attempts in the game.
Fenwick bounced back from an opening round loss to New Trier with a 51-44 victory over Von Steuben in Round 2. Two free throws by Lattner with 48 seconds left in the game put the Friars up by eight to seal the win. The junior guard scored six points in the first half to help his team secure a 20-19 advantage by the break. In the third, his three-pointer from atop the key put the Friars up six, 35-29. Lattner ended up leading all scorers in that game with 16 points, 12 coming in the first three periods.
Ainsworth finished with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds against Von Steuben. Scott Lindsey came off the bench to score nine for the Friars.
Deqon Horn led the Panthers (4-3) with 12 points, while Demetrius Faulkner added 11.
The Friars outscored Von Steuben 10-7 in the second quarter, and shot 45 percent from the field in the first half, much better than their shooting percentage in the first half of a 62-47 opening round loss to New Trier. Fenwick shot 26 percent in the first two quarters of that loss.
Against the Trevians (10-1), Fenwick dropped behind early and never recovered. Led by Connor Boehm and David Bragiel, New Trier jumped off to a 14-7 lead and swelled the deficit to 30-21 by halftime. Boehm had 11 points by the break, while Lattner’s five led the Friars, who connected on just 10-of-35 shots from the field.
Lattner brought Fenwick to within five in the third quarter with a made jumper in which he was fouled on. But the junior guard missed the free throw, and Austin Angel buried a three-pointer on New Trier’s next possession to put his team up 42-34 going into the final stanza.
The Trevians took over from there, pushing the lead to 18 with 2:50 left in the game.
Bragiel finished with a game-high of 18 points, while Boehm had 17 and Steven Cook 16. Cook also hauled down 10 rebounds for the Trevians.
Ainsworth, who came out strong in the third quarter by making two quick baskets, including one after a spin move in the paint, finished with 12 points to lead Fenwick. He had eight points in the second half. Lindsey, a sophomore guard, added 10 points for the Friars.
Fenwick travels to 10th-ranked De La Salle on Friday (Jan. 6) and Ridgewood on Saturday (Jan. 7). The Friars return home on Jan. 13 to face Hales Franciscan (7:30 p.m.).
