It’s easier to take a shot than it is to make a shot, but the Fenwick girls basketball team hasn’t had any trouble doing either in its first six games this season.
The Friars are averaging around 80 shots from the field per game, but, more impressively, they’re averaging around 80 points per game. The team capped off a 6-0 start with a 74-63 victory over Loyola on Thursday. Jade Owens led all scorers with a season-high 23 points to go along with her five rebounds and four assists. The sophomore guard connected on 10-of-14 shots from the field, including 3-of-3 from three-point range. Maggie Reilly added 19 points, 15 of which came by way of five three-pointers. Jenny Mackowiak chipped in 11 points for the Friars, who also closed out the Niles North Somebody’s Hero Thanksgiving Tournament with a 90-48 win over Antioch, marking the fourth title in a row for the program.
Owens, who, for the second year in a row, was named the tournament MVP, led Fenwick with 18 points in that win. Reilly added 13. Deja Cage and Mackenzie Sewall chipped in 11 points apiece for the Friars, who connected on 13 of 43 three-point attempts. Eight different players bucketed shots from behind the arc for Fenwick.
The Friars also pummeled Resurrection, 86-64, and Niles North, 77-36, in the tournament.
The team kicked off the first round by walloping Wheeling 71-44 and Taft 82-28. Maya Garland led the onslaught of Resurrection with 20 points. Owens finished with 18 points. Reilly and Cage combined to score 24 points.
On Nov. 20, in their home opener, the Friars annihilated Niles North 77-36. Owens scored 14 points, while Eva Brundage and Mackowiak each contributed 10 apiece.
Owens, Garland and Mackowiak were named to the all-tournament team.
Not all the shooting has been dead-on for the Friars, who, in their first five games, connected on 35-of-52 shots from the free-throw line.
“I would like to see us get to the line more in games and take advantage of those opportunities,” said Fenwick head coach Dave Power.
The Friars host Providence on Dec. 5 (7 p.m.) and travel to Marist on Saturday, Dec. 8 for an afternoon game tipping off at 2:30 p.m.