Fenton takes Upstate Eight lead with 46-40 victory over South Elgin
Fenton senior Damian Harnish doesn’t often light up the scoreboard, but he does the little things that can make a basketball team successful.
Tuesday night in Bensenville against visiting South Elgin, the 6-foot-2 guard showed how valuable he is to the Bison.
Harnish only scored 2 points, but had 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocked shots and played a terrific all-around game as Fenton defeated the Storm 46-40 in an important Upstate Eight Conference matchup.
Both teams came in to the game undefeated in conference, but the Bison took sole possession of first place with the win.
“We came in knowing what we needed to do,” said Harnish, “because they (South Elgin) are a tough team.
“We were both 5-0 (in the UEC), unfortunately one of us had to lose, and I just feel like we came out with more energy.”
Xavior Gonzalez scored a game-high 20 points for Fenton, while Derek Clark led the Storm with 16.
“We did some good things tonight,” said South Elgin coach Philip Church. “For 99 percent of the game plan, the guys executed, and that just shows how far they’ve come.”
South Elgin junior guard Shailen Shukti hit a couple of long 3-pointers in the first quarter as the Storm built an early lead.
Then Fenton clamped down on defense in the second period, and Gonzalez led a 7-point Bison run to give them a 24-18 halftime advantage.
“We went to a couple different defenses to (defend) players that were hot in the moment,” said Harnish.
“We just prioritized certain players, and that opened up some chances for us to hit some big shots.”
Clark opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, but Harnish took a charge to key a Bison rally.
And when Alejandro Diaz (15 points) hit a 3 with just 30 seconds left in the stanza, Fenton’s lead was 34-22.
South Elgin (7-5, 5-1) mustered a fourth quarter comeback, however, by hitting the boards.
The Storm had a big rebounding advantage in the contest, and when 6-3 junior Ishmael George was fouled while grabbing an offensive rebound and sank 2 free throws, South Elgin trailed just 41-37 with 1:55 remaining.
“He (George) hit some big shots for us earlier in the year,” said Church, “but we also talk about rebounding, taking charges, and getting assists.
“Those are a lot of metrics that he’s really taken to. He’s an all-state football player too and a heck of an athlete.”
The teams traded baskets late as a Clark tip-in brought the score to 44-40, but 2 clutch throws from Diaz with just a few seconds left closed out the Bison win.
Fenton improved to 6-0 in the Upstate Eight and 11-1 overall.
“This is like a second family to me,” said Harnish of his team, which has five seniors in the starting lineup.
“We’ve been playing together for four years now and over that time we’ve developed a lot of chemistry,” added Harnish. “I feel like that’s why we play so well.”
Shukti finished with 13 points for South Elgin, while George had a game-high 7 rebounds.
“The first two quarters we didn’t do a real good job going after the glass,” said Church. “But (in the second half) our guys realized there were some openings there.”
“We didn’t get that third shooter tonight and we needed that third guy. Fenton plays a real tough zone but I’d say we can hold our heads high. The guys did a really good job.”