Lancers steal win from Fenton

Gozie Umeadi's two-handed dunk was thunderous, but Jason Sotira's 3-pointer was louder.

Fenton's Umeadi tied Tuesday's boys basketball game against Lake Park by stealing a pass near midcourt with less than a minute to play and cruising in for the slam, but Sotira stole the show with 2.8 seconds left by burying a 3-pointer at the top of the key that gave the Lancers a 41-38 win.

"It feels great, especially because I played a bad first half," said Sotira, who scored all 10 of his points in the second half. "To come back and hit a shot like that feels great."

"Jason had a lot of turnovers tonight, but one thing about him is that he forgets everything," said Lancers coach Cray Allen. "He got open, and his shooter instinct took over."

Monday's opening night of Fenton's Chuck Mitchell Thanksgiving Tournament saw Fenton beat Elk Grove, and a young and unproven Lake Park team lose badly to Naperville Central.

On Tuesday in Bensenville, the Lancers applied an ingredient that they lacked the night before.

"We had more energy," Sotira said. "Our bench was up, and defensively we played so much better. Coach made us watch tape of how bad we played (Monday), and he said that if we're going to do one thing tonight, play hard."

Tuesday's game was no offensive barnburner, as Lake Park took a 19-18 halftime lead on a baseline runner by Michael Pavone. The teams posted only 6 points apiece in the second quarter.

"I was kind of in shock early that we were playing as poorly as we were," said Fenton coach Dennis Cromer. "Lake Park certainly played hard and deserved to win, but I was taken aback at how poorly we played at times."

Fenton (1-1) trailed Lake Park (1-1) 27-26 after three quarters, and the lead see-sawed down the stretch until a Danny Baylis 3-pointer gave the Lancers a 38-36 lead and Umeadi's dunk set up Sotira's heroics.

Billy Gratzl finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds for Fenton, and Darek Potuszynski also scored 10 points. Umeadi finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals in a well-rounded effort but went 8 of 15 from the free-throw line.

Allen applauded the day's work put in by Lucas Antioho. Pavone netted 10 points, and senior guard Derrick Dunklin played big for the Lancers, pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds.

"We've got some (big) guys that play like they're 5-foot-10, and some 5-10 guys that play like they're 6-4," Allen said. "(Dunklin) has been a good surprise."