Fenton drops heartbreaker in overtime
To understand how much the Fenton High School boys basketball team meant to the community, all one had to do is stick around after the Bison's heartbreaking 37-29 overtime loss to Niles Notre Dame in a Class 3A regional final Friday.
Nearly 100 fans waited patiently for coach Chaz Taft to tell every player how proud he was of the historic season they put together. It took nearly an hour for Xavior Gonzalez, Alejandro Diaz, Damian Harnish, Brandon Block, Angel O'Lea and others to emerge.
But when they did, they were met by proud parents and friends – many of whom shed tears with the crestfallen players.
“Honestly it just hurts that it's all over,” Gonzalez said. “I wanted that regional championship really bad, but I'm going to keep my head up.
“We were 28-5. We did all we could and we had a really special group. And I loved every moment of it.”
Taft echoed those thoughts.
“There's teams that don't win 28 games in four years,” he said. “We're conference champs, 17-1 in the league. That hasn't been done here since 1948 – being outright champ.
“So they set the standard and took it to another level of what the expectation is here – and that's to win every game.”
What hurt the most was just how close the Bison were to winning this game – one teeming with an electric atmosphere that included loud chants from both student sections.
Both teams fought to seize control the entire night. Fenton grabbed a 17-11 lead thanks to a 10-1 run fueled by 8 points from Diaz. But ND stormed right back – getting 3 field goals from junior Brady Sehlhorst – and Fenton clung to a 22-20 halftime lead.
Just like Wednesday – when Fenton prevailed on Harnish's last-second bucket – this contest seemed destined to go down to the wire.
And that's exactly what happened.
Trailing 29-25 with under four minutes remaining, Fenton got within 2 when Harnish drove and sank a shot. An ND turnover gave Fenton the ball back, but the Bison missed a field goal and it appeared they might have to foul to force free throws.
But Diaz came to the rescue, anticipating a pass to ND's point guard. He exploded to the ball, intercepted it and raced for a game-tying layup.
“I saw his eyes looking to No. 1, so kind of took a gamble and it paid off,” Diaz said.
After Notre Dame missed a long 3-pointer at the buzzer, the game went to overtime. Sehlhorst (9-of-12 shooting, 23 points) knocked down a short jumper with 1:15 remaining to break the 29-29 tie.
Fenton couldn't connect after that, and ND pulled away with 4 free throws to seal the victory.
Fenton attempted just 2 free throws, while ND went 10-for-14 at the line.
“Obviously it's a tough loss,” said Diaz, who had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. “It's not the way you want to end the season. But I love these guys. We've been through everything together. I wouldn't want to do it with any other group. It's obviously a sad one, but you've got to take it on the chin and move on.”
Fenton was looking to win its first regional championship since 2011. ND will play DePaul College Prep at St. Viator on Tuesday.