Fenton finishes strong against ICCP
Fenton started off a little slow Tuesday night.
But the Bison finished much stronger.
Spotting visiting IC Catholic Prep the first eight points in the Metro Suburban Conference West Division boys basketball matchup, Fenton stormed back and defeated the Knights 66-57 in Bensenville.
"It was very good to bounce back," said Fenton coach Josh Payton. "Friday (against Glenbard South) was a tough loss for us. We didn't execute very well on the offensive end. Tonight, we executed very well on the offensive end. We got high-percentage looks, we got to the basket and down the stretch, we hit our free throws."
The home team took the lead for good late in the second quarter on a 3-pointer by KJ Jones, and after an ICCP hoop, he followed up with a three-point play to extend the margin to 28-24 at halftime.
A pair of baskets by Bryan Larsen, who scored a game-high 18 points, helped push the advantage to double digits in the third.
"That was really nice, the first conference win for us," Larsen said. "And it was nice to make our fans feel proud. Our intensity really got up there. During practice we always talk about help-line (on defense) and we showed that help-line tonight and got some charges. That helped turn it around."
The Knights cut the deficit to as few as 5 after back-to-back 3s from Troy Burrows, but Fenton hit 10 free throws over the final eight minutes to keep its lead. The Bison improved to 4-3 on the season.
"This is probably our best start in recent years," Larsen said. "Our mindset has changed from last year to this year, and we are really playing hard."
Joe Andrews was active on both sides of the court and finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the home team. Eric Trujillo added 14 points.
"That's been one of our proud points," Payton said. 'We've had eight different guys in double figures over the course of our seven games. Everybody has bought in to what is expected of them and they are doing a great job."
IC Catholic was topped by the 15 points of Burrows and the 13 from Will Lyles.
"Offensively, we didn't get into a rhythm," Knights coach T.J. Tyrrell said, "and defensively, we were lunging at guys and getting ourselves out of position. But hats off to Fenton, they hit their shots and made their free throws down the stretch. They did a nice job."