Fenton tops Bartlett, keeps UEC lead
The Bison keep charging.
Despite a height disadvantage, Fenton downed Bartlett 55-38 Thursday night in Upstate Eight Conference action.
With the win, the Bison remain undefeated in league play this season at 9-0 with an 18-3 overall record.
Fenton’s Brandon Block, who stands at 6-foot-2 and is one of the team’s tallest starters, was only one inch taller than one of his Hawk counter parts. The remaining four starters had at least two inches on the senior.
The Bison employed a smothering 2-3 zone to keep Bartlett away from the basket.
Fenton also keyed on the Hawks’ Nathan Scearce. The senior was honored before the game for scoring 1,000 points in his varsity career, only the 10th Hawk to reach that mark. He hit the four-digit mark on Wednesday against West Chicago.
“It feels good to get 1,000 because I didn’t get too much run my freshman year, and my sophomore year, I broke my finger,” Scearce said of the milestone. “Coming back and getting my goal feels good.”
“It was all about speed. We were able to disrupt their ball handling,” Fenton coach Chaz Taft said about his team negating the Hawks’ size. “We knew they were going to go high low against us because they are a lot bigger than us. We neutralized that with getting deflections, getting our hands on the ball and putting pressure on their guards.”
Block led all scorers with 17 points.
“I thought we played a physical game,” Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. “Twenty-five (Block) was the difference. He had a great game.”
“We played hard and brought our energy on the road,” Block said.
“Another key was knowing where Scearce was. He’s the focal point for them,” Taft said. “We held him to seven points this game.”
“They ran a really good zone, it was hard to get open shots,” said Scearce.
Except for a 4-4 tie early in the first quarter, Fenton was in front for the entire game.
Bison starter Damian Harnish injured his foot late in the second quarter and sat out the rest of the game.
“He twisted his ankle, and he will be day-to-day,” Taft said.
Trailing 28-11 at the start of the second half, Bartlett (8-9, 5-3) did make a run in the third quarter outscoring the Bison, 12-8. Scearce hit a long three from the top of the key at the 4:03 mark of the frame to cut Fenton’s lead to 32-21, but that was the closest the Hawks would get.
”I thought we got careless with the ball and we weren’t attacking,” Taft said about the third quarter.
In addition to pulling down 11 rebounds, Alejandro Diaz scored 15 points for the Bison. Classmate Xavior Gonzalez also reached double figures, notching 14 points.
Senior Brendan Campbell scored 10 points for the Hawks while freshman Joey Cwik tallied nine all on three-pointers.