Fenton protects lead against Timothy Christian
History did not repeat itself for Fenton in a Metro Suburban Conference boys basketball showdown against Timothy Christian on Friday. The Bison have had a tough time holding onto a lead this season and when they jumped to an early advantage over the visiting Trojans, they feared it could disappear before their eyes.
But this time around, a letdown didn't happen thanks to some steady play on offense, stellar free throw shooting and timely defense which added up to 50-36 victory for Fenton over Timothy Christian in Bensenville.
"We are not used to getting the lead," said Fenton coach Dennis Cromer whose team led 10-2 early in the first quarter and then 23-12 at haltime. "We did a nice job of getting the lead in the first half. What we were certain about we have had leads but have let them kind of slip out of our hands. When they cut it to (4), I was glad to see us fight it off a little bit.
"We didn't play a great game - it was a kind of gritty and determined game."
This Bison team certainly showed a fair amount of fight. Despite being down, the Trojans kept chipping away at the deficit. They were within 4 points at the midway point of the third quarter. Fenton (8-19 overall record, 3-8 in the conference) responded with 9 unanswered points capped by a 3-pointer by Jeremy Shimanek.
Timothy Christian (15-9, 6-5) stayed within 4 points in the fourth quarter until the Bison defense stepped up and the offense controlled of the ball while running down the clock. Fenton shot a sizzling 84.2 percent (16-for-19) from the foul line in the fourth quarter paced by 7 free throws from standout senior Dan Montano, who led all scorers with 21 points.
Montano and fellow forward Kyle Moriarty drew charges in the final 5:38 of the contest as Fenton switched defenses on the Trojans to try to slow them down. Fenton held Timothy Christian to a mere 8 points in the final quarter.
"Kyle had a game (earlier this season) where he drew 5 charges in one game so he is really kind of fearless in that respect," Cromer said. "We changed defenses throughout - which is something we don't normally do. We went back and forth from man to zone to try to keep them a little off balance. When you hold someone to 36, you are doing something right defensively."
The Trojans were led by 15 points from guard Mike Pizzello.
"We were out of sync," said Timothy Christian coach Jack LeGrand. "Give Fenton credit - they played well on defense. We did not play well offensively."
In addition to Montano, Cromer was pleased with the inside play of Will Payne and Moriarty. Guards Piotrowski and Shimanek chipped in 8 points apiece too. For Montano and his teammates, a victory with the playoffs coming up certainly means a lot.
"It was a big win for us," Montano said. "We knew it was going to be a tight game. We know it is playoff time coming so every point counts."
WW South 64, West Chicago 50:
The Tigers (15-9, 8-4) rolled to their sixth straight win by beating the Wildcats (4-19, 0-12) in the DuPage Valley Conference. Reilly O'Toole led all scorers with 18 points while Travis Kern added 14 points and Kevin Bridges had 11. Justin Mundt paced West Chicago with 15 points and Josh Gimre scored 13 points.
Marmion 57, Glenbard South 52:
Joe Harks led all scorers with 21 points for Glenbard South (9-14) but it wasn't enough in their nonconference loss. Dusko Despot had 13 points for the Raiders.
Dwight 54, Lisle 45:
The Lions (8-19, 3-8) fell on the road in the Interstate Eight Conference. Kazim Khan scored 12 points and Phil Palicka added 11 points for Lisle.