There haven’t been many instances this season where the Fenwick High School boys basketball team has turned in a subpar performance.
Unfortunately for the Friars, that was the case on Jan. 26 at home against Brother Rice. The visitors shredded Fenwick’s defense for 25 points in the second quarter en route to a 67-51 Chicago Catholic League victory.
“Every quarter was tough,” said Fenwick coach David Fergerson, “but [the second] was the worst we’ve had in a while. That gave [Brother Rice] an extra boost.”
Marcos Gonzales capped the first half with a buzzer-beating three-pointer from just inside half-court to give the Crusaders (21-3, 4-1 in CCL Blue) a 34-23 halftime lead.
“That was a dagger,” Fergerson said. “Brother Rice is a really good team. We didn’t play our best game and I don’t know if they did, but I know they played good and solid.”
Rice’s dominance also served as an indicator of the work Fenwick (13-8, 2-3) has to do with the IHSA postseason about three weeks away.
“In order to do what we want to do — contend for the sectional and supersectional — we’ve got to be able to beat a team like [Rice],” Fergerson said. “We’ve got to clean some things up.”
After being down by as much as 17, the Friars gradually chipped away at their deficit. They trailed 59-48 with just over two minutes to go in the game and had possession, but a subsequent turnover, followed by a basket by Tyler Wooten, essentially doused any hope of a miracle comeback.
Wooten (eight rebounds) had a team-high 16 points for Brother Rice, including 10 in the fourth quarter. He shared scoring honors with Gonzales, who had nine of his 16 in the second quarter. Zavier Fitch added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Crusaders.
Ty Macariola had a game-high 17 points for Fenwick. Dominick Ducree added 15 and Kam Hogan 11 for the Friars, who missed several point-blank chances inside and had a few wide-open looks from the three-point line that failed to connect, particularly in the third quarter.
“We couldn’t hit shots and we couldn’t guard. They beat us in every facet of the game tonight,” Fergerson said. “We’ll have to go back to the board and figure out what we’ve got to do better. We’ve got to start working again, get back to what we do best, and get back on the winning side.”
Fenwick did find the winning side on Jan. 23 with a 57-36 victory at Aurora Central Catholic. Makai Mandley led the Friars with 16 points while Caleb Burgins added 10 and Macariola eight.
Up next for Fenwick is a home game against Providence-St. Mel, Jan. 30 (after deadline) and a road game at De La Salle, Feb. 2.
OPRF
Oak Park and River Forest’s losing streak lengthened to five with a 60-47 West Suburban Silver loss at Downers Grove North, Jan. 26.
Justin Bowen and Max Johnson tied for the team lead with 13 points apiece, with Alex Gossett and Joe Halper each adding nine for the Huskies (6-12, 1-5 in WSC Silver).