Fenton makes its free throws for win
Many are the basketball teams that tie free-throw shooting practice to running.
Fenton does it its own way.
"We run around the school twice," said Bison senior Dylin Coons, "and then we shoot five 1-on-1s. It's shooting free throws while you're exhausted. It helps a lot."
It sure did Friday.
Fenton made 20 of its 23 free-throw attempts in the second half, preserving a 58-47 win over Ridgewood in Bensenville.
Coons, who scored a team-high 17 points, knocked down 8 of 10 free throws after halftime.
"I made it my goal to shoot 80 to 85 percent this season," Coons said. "We needed almost every one of them tonight, especially at the end."
Fenton (5-4, 2-2 Metro Suburban Conference), coming off a good win over Elmwood Park on Tuesday, came out a little flat early particularly on the defensive end.
Ridgewood jumped out to an early 12-3 lead, but Fenton gathered itself to go into halftime up 25-24.
"I got on them at halftime," Bison coach Tim Anderson said. "The way we played defense in the first half, that was not us."
Anderson admitted Fenton's long-range shooting has not been up to his expectations thusfar in the young season, but it got the Bison on track Friday.
Taylor Pugliese buried back-to-back 3-pointers to dig out of the 12-3 hole, and Pugliese hit three of the Bison's four 3s in the first half. A 3 by Tina Guarino with 33 seconds left in the half gave Fenton a 25-22 lead, its first since the game's first minute.
"Our shooting is really why we've lost the games we have," Anderson said, citing 19 percent shooting in a 15-point loss to Timothy Christian as an example. "We could be 9-0."
A 3-pointer by Amanda Weldon started the second half, and Fenton never trailed after halftime. Mallory McCormack scored 17 points for Ridgewood, her free throws with 3:48 left in the game pulling the Rebels within 43-40. At the other end Coons found Katie Rubright with a pretty pass for a layup.
Welson scored 13 points and Pugliese 11 for Fenton, which hit 21 of 28 free throws for the game.
"The free throws, they made the difference," Anderson said, "and we're getting better at them. We needed this win."