One year can make a big difference, even for an already dominant girls basketball team. Just ask Fenwick, who after avenging last season’s playoff loss to Trinity on Thursday night, clobbered Bogan 69-45 Monday to win the UIC Supersectional and advance to the Class AA State Finals for the sixth time in eight years.
The Friars (33-2) downed Bogan with the help of Devereaux Peters’ 25 points and 11 rebounds, but the more significant win was a 53-29 rout of area-rival Trinity for the Riverside Brookfield Sectional championship. Last season, Trinity booted the Friars from the playoffs with a 51-50 win in the same title game.
A second half explosion had Fenwick cutting down the nets this time around. The Friars dominated the Blazers (25-7) in the third quarter, outscoring them 19-5. Peters was the story, bringing an unmatched intensity to the court for which had no answer. Peters scored a game-high 21 points, had 17 rebounds and three blocks.
“This is a wonderful feeling,” a jubilant Peters said after the game. “They beat us last year and we felt we should have won, but we brought it back this year, turned up the intensity in the third quarter, and got it done.”
The real knock-out blow came from an unlikely source in freshman Tricia Liston (10 points). Liston had seven points in the third-quarter run, including one of her two three-pointers on the night. She also scored 15 first-half points in the victory over Bogan.
“It feels good to come out on top,” Liston said after the win over Trinity. “This was a big rival game for us and we got it done. We realized at the half that if we came out strong, we could make it happen.”
“Tricia played amazing,” Peters said. “She really played like a senior tonight.”
The inspired performance by Peters and company was not to be outdone by a tenacious Lykendra Johnson. The Michigan State-bound senior scored a team-high 14 points in the loss; but she posed match-up problems for the Friars all night long.
“Alison Jackson got in early foul trouble on Lykendra,” Fenwick coach Dave Power said. “Dev [Devereaux Peters] had no fouls at the half so we put her on Johnson in the second half. I thought she did a good job.”
A teary-eyed Johnson stayed optimistic following the game.
“I didn’t play my best tonight, but we win as a team and we lose as a team,” Johnson said. “Coach said to look at the big picture. I’m going to Michigan State next year to play and I’ll have more opportunities there.”
“I played college ball at Loyola and I told them I know what they are going through,” said first year head coach Ed Stritzel. “We had a lot of success this year, we won the GCAC, we won our Thanksgiving tournament; our kids did everything I asked of them. All that success and Lykendra was out a month.”
Coach Power was sure that the Friars defense made all the difference.
“Our defense was phenomenal, and we really took control in the third quarter,” he said before looking around with a smile. “Sometimes you don’t get a second chance, and to do it on the same court a year later is a great feeling.”
The Friars will begin the state quarterfinals against Sterling (28-7) at Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena in Normal on Friday at 1:45 p.m. A win could pit the Friars against East Suburban Catholic Conference rival Marian Catholic (27-3) in the semifinals on Saturday. Fenwick defeated Marian Catholic 45-25 on Feb. 10. Defending state champ Bolingbrook (30-1) resides on the opposite bracket as Fenwick. The Friars lost their first game to the Raiders earlier in the year.
The Class AA State championship will be played Saturday at 8:15 p.m.
Brad Spencer contributed to this report.