Fenwick High School girls basketball coach Lenae Fergerson has been steadfast in her belief that her team would start to play its best basketball as postseason nears. Judging by the outcome of the Friars’ game against visiting OPRF, Jan. 27, her prediction may be coming true.
On Senior Night, Cammie Molis tallied 21 points on 7 three-pointers as the Friars (11-14) rolled to a 54-36 victory over the Huskies (6-21).
“I’m really glad she was able to go out like this tonight,” Fergerson said. “She can do that at any given moment, you just never know when it’s going to be.”
Molis is the definition of a team player. While she was happy with her performance, she was more thrilled with the victory and how the team played.
“It feels really good because it was our rival school and it’s our last home game,” Molis said. “It felt extra special.”
Fenwick scored seven of the game’s first eight points and led 13-7 after the first quarter. Molis hit back-to-back three-pointers to begin the second quarter as the Friars built a 26-18 halftime lead.
In the third, the Huskies scored just four points while Molis helped Fenwick pull away by connecting on four more 3-pointers, giving the Friars a 40-22 lead after three.
Fergerson started seniors Gia Delatorre, Zoe Dray, Heaven Lee, Elissa Scholtens, and Madison Zorovich. She felt their good effort set the tone for the night.
“It’s difficult because it can go a lot of different ways,” Fergerson said. “You end up starting a different lineup than you usually do; sometimes you’re playing girls who barely get to play so it’s like your fingers are crossed that they can hold it [together] and they did. I was proud of them; they played their butts off, and you couldn’t ask for a better Senior Night.”
Dray finished with nine points and nine rebounds, Zorovich five points, and Scholtens four points and seven rebounds.
Katara Watson had 18 points (eight in the fourth quarter) and 10 rebounds, and Taryn Draine 13 points and six rebounds for the Huskies, who have dropped eight of their past nine games.
“When we’re down, we need every possession, and we didn’t execute certain things and had key turnovers,” said OPRF coach Renee Brantley. “But they fought until the end and it never really was out of control. We just can’t afford [untimely] mistakes.
“It took us too long to understand that [Molis] was hot and we can’t leave her roaming free. We played a little bit better in the fourth quarter, but by that time, the hole we dug was too deep and we couldn’t get out of it.”
Fenwick won two more games last week to extend its winning streak to four. On Jan. 29, Avani Williams had 18 points and six rebounds to lead the Friars to a 55-29 victory at Willowbrook. Zorovich had 12 points and four steals, and Lucy McAllister added 11 points and six rebounds.
Then on Jan. 31, Williams scored 13 points and Molis added eight in a 48-9 victory at Lincoln Park. Molis and Williams were named to the All-Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red Division Team, with Williams, a sophomore, getting the honor for the second consecutive season.
The Friars hope to have a good showing in this week’s GCAC tournament as they look to secure a higher seed for the upcoming IHSA Class 3A Trinity Sectional.
“Once the playoffs start, it’s 0-0,” Fergerson said. “As long as we’re playing our best basketball, I’m confident we can go somewhere.”
OPRF, which lost at home 57-38 to York, Jan. 30, is looking to build positive momentum in the final week of the regular season.
“Right now it’s just about us,” Brantley said. “It’s just executing and doing all the little things. There’s not a defense we haven’t seen, there’s not an offense we haven’t seen. It’s just about execution and effort.”
Girls bowling
Trinity’s Josephine Rodriguez won the individual title at the GCAC tournament, held at Bowlero in Niles, Jan. 31. Her effort sparked the Blazers to a fourth-place finish as a team with 4,051 pins.
Rodriguez’s six-game total was 1,131 pins. Sophia Gonzalez (20th, 860) and Gabriella Pikulski (22nd, 849) also had top-25 finishes for Trinity.
Fenwick finished second with 4,851 pins. The Friars had five bowlers in the top 13: Mariya Mason (3rd, 1,049), Millie Ramirez (7th, 982), Josie Milewski (8th, 979), De’Ondrea Almond (11th, 927), and Jakayla Davis (13th, 914).
Fenwick and Trinity will bowl in the Morton Regional at Bowlero in River Grove, Feb. 6.
