Bison find third, fourth scorers

After posting 16 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocked shots, here's what Fenton's Gozie Umeadi had to say after Fenton's come-from-behind, 74-63 win over visiting Ridgewood on Friday:

"Darek (Potuszynski) came ready to play today, and Bill (Gratzl) is an underrated player. He's the guy that glues our team together."

Umeadi has been filling every statistical category this year, and fellow senior Damian Sieradzki has been the team leader in points and rebounds averaged, but if Fenton wants to find a winning streak, it will need what it got from Potuszynski and Gratzl in Bensenville.

Potuszynski scored 14 points and Gratzl netted 13 to give Fenton four scorers in double figures on the night. Sieradzki led Fenton with 20 points, 10 of which he scored in the game's pivotal third quarter.

"We've been playing good defense but losing games because we haven't been scoring enough," Sieradzki said. "We've needed a third consistent scorer, and today we got four."

The Metro Suburban Conference game started well for Fenton (3-6, 2-1), which led 18-15 after a quarter of play. The Bison led 28-27 on a Gratzl jump shot in the second quarter, before Ridgewood went on an 11-1 run to halftime and built a 38-29 lead.

"There was no way we could give up another 38 points and expect to win," said Fenton coach Dennis Cromer. "In the second half we had to tighten up our defense."

A Gratzl three-point play began the third quarter, a Sieradzki baseline drive cut the deficit to 4 points, and a Potuszynski free throw and a Sieradzki putback cut Ridgewood's lead to 45-43.

A Sieradzki pull-up jumper at the buzzer gave Fenton a 51-50 lead, and the Bison never trailed again, holding Ridgewood to 13 points in the fourth quarter while putting 23 points on the board.

"That's easily the most points we've scored all year," Cromer said. "We passed the ball particularly well in the second half, and played good defense in the third quarter. That got us back in the game."

Umeadi's all-around game framed the contest, and his final play of the game provided a punctuation mark.

Umeadi stole a pass near midcourt with only seconds remaining, measured the rim, leapt off both feet, cradled the ball and threw down a Jordanesque dunk as the final buzzer sounded.

"I was going to pull the ball out, actually," Umeadi said. "But I thought I'd give (Fenton's fans) a little something."

"The crowd got into it tonight, and that adrenaline helped us out a lot," Sieradzki added.