After a great performance, the tight game between the Fenwick and Riverside-Brookfield boys basketball teams settled things in OT, with the Friars coming up just short, 63-59 Saturday, at Riverside-Brookfield.
With the score knotted at 53 heading into the extra frame, RB senior post player Stefan Cicic scored on a layup from the right side with 3:10 left to put his team in the lead. Fenwick’s junior guard Ty Macariola answered with a tip-in from the right side with 2:35 left to play to tie the game at 55, and the Bulldogs answered on a 3-pointer from the left side by senior guard Steven Brown with 2:07 to play, putting them up 58-55.
“We were playing well, but we had some crucial turnovers late in the game,” said Fenwick junior guard Dominick Ducree. “Overall, in the game we shot the ball well, and we did get some good turnovers ourselves. We just couldn’t get the job done.”
Ducree led the Friars with 24 points while junior forward Nate Marshall put up five points and junior guard Deonte Meeks notched four points.
“Dom [Ducree] has been a steady player for us all season,” said Friars head coach David Fergerson. “Teams scout him and he’s still able to make the plays when his number is called. He made some big shots for us which was great tonight, we just fell a little bit short.”
On Jan. 19, Fenwick notched a 44-29 Chicago Catholic League victory at Leo. Junior guard Kamren Hogan had a team-high 12 points, while Meeks added nine and Macariola had eight.
Ducree and the rest of the Friars have a lot they can build on after Friday’s game, as they head into more Chicago Catholic League play this week.
“We’re a defense-oriented team” Ducree said. “We don’t want to give anyone free looks or free options, or free drives in the lane. This week we’re really going to focus on the defensive side of things.”
Ducree also knows that getting things rolling right from the start of games will be a big key in finishing games the rest of the way.
“The games we lost this season, it was because we’ve come out flat in the first or third quarter,” Ducree said. “If we can just keep up our first and third quarters, we’ll be really solid. The biggest thing for us is to make sure we come out with high energy and really get on the other team, and making sure that we hold the lead and take care of the ball.”