Last week, the Fenwick High School girls basketball team had a challenging week against three tough opponents. After losing their Girls Catholic Athletic Conference opener to visiting St. Ignatius 51-17 on Dec. 3, the Friars rebounded with two solid victories: 51-36 over East Avenue rival OPRF, Dec. 5, and 39-27 over Lane Tech in the Chicago Elite Classic at Malcolm X College in Chicago, Dec. 8.
“Two out of three is not bad. We’ll take it,” said Fenwick coach Lenae Fergerson. “We’re just going to keep building on it.”
At Malcolm X, the first half was a defensive struggle as Fenwick (5-3) and Lane Tech went into halftime tied at 15-15.
“The first half, we really played sluggish,” Fergerson said. “Our defense was still solid, but we didn’t push the ball. I’m trying to get us to play a lot faster, and in the third quarter, we opened up because we defended and pushed the ball. Good things happen when we do that.”
Fenwick’s Darryelle Smith (31) drives to the basket and is fouled by Oak Park and River Forest’s Taryn Draine (21) during a nonconference game Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 in Oak Park. (Steve Johnston) 
Fenwick’s Avani Williams (23) tries to get a shot off over Oak Park and River Forest’s Leia Hammerschmidt (14) during a nonconference game Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 in Oak Park. (Steve Johnston) 
Fenwick’s Cammie Molis (15) puts up a shot attempt against Oak Park and River Forest during a nonconference game Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 in Oak Park. (Steve Johnston) 
Fenwick’s Heaven Lee (1) drives the lane against Oak Park and River Forest’s Gabriella Chesney (33) during a nonconference game Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 in Oak Park. (Steve Johnston) 
Oak Park and River Forest’s Claire Detmer (24) pulls down a rebound against Fenwick’s Avani Williams (23) during a nonconference game Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 in Oak Park. (Steve Johnston) 
Oak Park and River Forest’s Selah Sarai Backeberg (20) tries to work to the basket against Fenwick’s Cammie Molis (15) during a nonconference game Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 in Oak Park. (Steve Johnston) 
Oak Park and River Forest’s Ameina Johnson (32) drives to the basket against Fenwick during a nonconference game Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 in Oak Park. (Steve Johnston) 
Oak Park and River Forest’s Genevieve Simkowski (22) floats up a shot against Fenwick’s Keira Kapsch (11) during a nonconference game Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 in Oak Park. (Steve Johnston)
With the game tied at 19-19 midway through the third quarter, the Friars went on an 11-0 run to take control. Senior guard Keira Kapsch was the main ignitor, pouring in nine of her game-high 12 points in the stanza.
“Keira came up big, so did our freshman Eleanor Gibson,” Fergerson said. “Like I tell them every night, it’s going to be a team effort. Everyone is going to have to contribute in some way, and this was a good team effort.”
Kapsch added six steals and five rebounds while Darryelle Smith had eight points and eight rebounds for Fenwick, which held Lane to 23.3 percent shooting (9-of-39) from the floor and forced 22 turnovers.
“What really got our team going in the second half was our halftime talk,” said Kapsch. “We discussed ways of improving our execution on offense and keeping up our intensity on defense because that was keeping us in the game. In the third quarter, we were able to maintain our pressure on defense and get more stops and steals. Getting a few clutch shots early in the quarter boosted our confidence. This also helped us build momentum, getting points on fast breaks. I feel optimistic about the rest of the season. We needed to win these two games to bounce back from a disappointing performance against Ignatius, and working hard to get these wins are going to help us going forward and remind us to work even harder to accomplish more.”
Fergerson felt playing on a college floor, which has a little more length than a high school floor, didn’t bother the Friars.
It’s likely Fenwick felt better about the victory over Lane than the one against OPRF, which was marked by sloppy play. The Friars prevailed despite committing 20 turnovers against the Huskies.
“Yes, [OPRF] was a win, but it was nowhere near how we need to play,” Fergerson said.
Gibson led Fenwick with 12 points. Smith had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Cammie Molis and Avani Williams [another freshman] each added nine points.
Sophomore Taryn Draine led OPRF (1-6) with 12 points, and senior Genevieve Simkowski added nine points. But turnovers were a major problem for the Huskies, who committed 31 versus the Friars.
“The turnovers killed us,” said OPRF coach Renee Brantley. “When we turned the ball over in the second quarter, we weren’t scoring either. We can’t have that. We also missed a few layups and quite a few free throws. We played hard, but we definitely had opportunities.”
While Brantley was pleased with playing Fenwick evenly in the second half (each team scored 23 points), she knows it’s important for the Huskies to keep improving.
“The work doesn’t stop,” Brantley said. “The effort is there 100 percent from them.”
Up next for Fenwick is a home GCAC game against Mother McAuley, Dec. 12, then games versus Lincoln-Way East and St. Laurence, Dec. 14, at the Marian Catholic Holiday Classic.
Meanwhile, OPRF has West Suburban Silver games against visiting York, Dec. 13, and at Downers Grove North, Dec. 16.
