Fenton shows its strength
After Fenton ousted North Lawndale 52-44 to win its own regional Thursday night, Katherine and Michelle McEvoy thought it was time to strike a pose for a handful of Bison fans who gathered around midcourt to capture the moment with their digital and cell phone cameras.
McKall Pugliese held the Class 3A regional championship plaque, while Katherine stood on one side of Pugliese, and Michelle on the other. Then, with cameras flashing, Katherine and Michelle - flashing grins a mile wide - flexed their biceps.
It seemed only fitting that they did. The twin sisters proved to be double trouble for North Lawndale during the final eight minutes as they combined to score 12 of the Bison's 14 fourth-quarter points.
The Phoenix cut Fenton's lead to 38-37 with 6:05 remaining after Tiara Webb drove in for a layup following a Bison turnover. But the McEvoys took over from there.
Katherine McEvoy sank a 15-footer that gave the Bison a 40-37 advantage, and Michelle followed with a 3 from the perimeter. Katherine, who tallied 8 of her 10 points in the fourth quarter, scored the game's last 6 points.
"It was like, 'I hope these go in; we really need these,'" Katherine said in reference to her scoring spree. "Coach (Tim Anderson) was trying to encourage everyone to shoot the ball, shoot as much as you can. He gave us an encouraging speech - keep driving, keep doing your best and keep going hard."
The Bison (14-17) rode the hot hand of Pugliese into the third quarter. Pugliese, who rifled in six 3s and finished with a game-high 21 points, became the eighth player in IHSA girls basketball history to drop in at least 100 3-pointers in a single season.
However, North Lawndale (13-14) switched from zone to man midway through the third quarter as Kyra Brown and Dominique Verse shadowed Pugliese from that point on.
But not to worry.
"My teammates stepped up and we started making some shots," Pugliese said.
"They started chasing her, and that changed everything," said Anderson, whose team captured its second regional crown over the past three years. "Then we started running our man-to-man offense again. We started to get a little bit better looks for everybody. But I'll tell you: the McEvoys came up big. They hit some clutch shots."
Lindsay Speiden grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds, and added 4 assists and 3 steals. Katherine McEvoy pulled down 12 rebounds, while Pugliese chipped in with 8 boards and 7 steals. Michelle McEvoy finished with 7 rebounds.
"I give the girls credit." Anderson said. "When push came to shove, they did what they needed to do."
The Bison advance to Monday night's sectional semifinals at Trinity, where they'll face either the No. 1-seeded Blazers or Crane.
"They're No. 1 for a reason," Anderson said of Trinity. "I'm going to worry about that until (Friday). Right now I'm just trying to enjoy this and go from there. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I'm really proud of them (Fenton). They're fighters and they've been fighting all year."