Friars Girls Basketball Suffers Second Loss of Season

VILLA PARK— After Fenwick’s girls basketball team edged Morgan Park in its first game of the 21^stAnnual McDonalds Shootout on Saturday, head coach Dave Power stuck around for the first half of the Carmel (Ind.) vs. Whitney Young contest later that evening to take a look at his team’s next Shootout opponent: the Lady Greyhounds.

“When I saw them play the other night, they couldn’t buy a three,” Power said. “But we knew, statistically, they had three-point shooters.”

When the Friars kicked off Monday’s seven-game set at 10 a.m. against Carmel, the Lady Greyhounds certainly lived up to their nickname — and their propensity for hitting three-pointers.

Carmel gunned in four three-pointers during the first quarter and sprinted to a 75-61 victory over the Friars, who were handed only their second loss of the season.

The Lady Greyhounds jumped to an 8-2 lead — six of those points coming via the three. The Friars stormed back to tie it, 8-8, on two Sarah Williams three pointers.

But Carmel rattled off 10 straight points — three coming on Blaire Langlois’ third three-pointer of the quarter — to lead 18-8.

Fenwick (17-2) cut Carmel’s lead to nine points (30-21) on another Williams three, but Torrie Thornton’s inside basket capped an 11-1 run by the Lady Greyhounds and lifted them to a 41-23 advantage.

Thornton, a Purdue recruit who is listed among the top 50 senior players in the country, finished with 22 points, six rebounds, four blocks and two steals.

“The first half they were on fire,” Power said. “They shot very well. The first three or four minutes of the game, they got that jump and we spent the rest of the day trying to claw back. They’re just too good of a shooting team to let them jump out on you like that.”

Fenwick came within nine points on four occasions during the second half, and briefly cut Carmel’s lead to 48-41 in the third quarter on a Meredith Boardman basket.

That would be the closest Fenwick would get to Carmel (15-3), the No. 3-ranked Class 4A team in Indiana.

“I don’t know if (starting at) 10 a.m. has anything to do with it; it’s the same for both teams,” said Power, whose Friars are ranked third in Illinois’ Class 3A state poll. “But I know we’re not an early-morning team.

"That being said, when Carmel is shooting their threes like that, they’re going to be a hard team to beat.”

It was the Friars' Williams, however, who put on a three-point clinic. The Lehigh-bound senior pumped in six of seven from beyond the arc and scored a game-high 23 points.

“I’m happy with how our team’s doing and how we’ve been playing,” she said. “This game was just a lesson for when we play good shooters and we play teams that can get out of transition and run with us.

"We like to do that ourselves, so playing against a team that does the same thing was a challenge and I’m glad that we had this experience.”

“Sarah Williams is on fire,” Power said. “She’s been having a great senior year. She’s been playing very steady and consistent at both ends. Lehigh got a steal. I think Sarah Williams, without question if you look from last year to this year, is the most improved player in Illinois. She’s showing leadership and she’s been hitting big shots for us.

"The game today got away from us a little early. It was hard for her to bring us back but [in] a lot of games she has done that.”

Kyra Navarrete was the only other Friar in double figures with 11. She also had seven rebounds. Boardman added eight points and eight rebounds.

Fenwick’s next home game is Saturday at 2:30 p.m. against St. Viator.

Carmel(Ind.) 75, Fenwick 61

Carmel—Thornton 9 4-9 22, Dean 2 2-2 6, DeFruscio 3 0-0 7, Langlois 7 1-2 18, Williams 5 1-3 12, Irwin 0 0-0 0, Monson 3 0-0 7, Foyer 0 0-0 0, Standifer 0 0-0 0, Nordhoff 0 0-0 0. Totals: 30 8-16 75.

Fenwick—Owens 1 0-0 2, Roche 2 0-0 5, Corvino 1 0-0 3, Devereux 0 0-0 0, Reilly 00-0 0, Wlodarkiewicz 0 0-0 0, Navarrete 4 3-3 11, Boyd 0 0-0 0, Burchett 0 1-2 1, Williams 8 1-1 23, Boardman 4 0-1 8, Ballard 2 2-2 6, Casper 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 7-9 61.

Score by quarters

Carmel     24    18    18     15—75

Fenwick   16     14   18     13—61

Three point baskets: Carmel 7 (Langlois 3, Williams, DeFruscio, Dean), Fenwick 8 (Williams 6, Roche, Corvino). Total fouls: Carmel 10, Fenwick 12. Rebounds: Carmel 31, Fenwick 32. Turnovers: Carmel 10, Fenwick 14.