Fenton struggles with its shooting
Nothing excites a team like a dunk. In making a bid for the spectacular, Fenton needed to be more direct and straightforward.
Twice in crucial situations against Taft, Fenton players tried dunking the ball off breakaways. The first time resulted in a turnover. On the second example the ball smashed off the back of the rim.
Those plays underlined Fenton's struggle to take advantage of its necessary scoring opportunities. The Bison suffered a 45-34 loss in nonconference play Friday night in Chicago's Norwood Park neighborhood.
Taft guard Matt Lesch converted four 3-pointers in scoring a game-high 16 points to lead the Eagles (5-7). He scored all of his points in the second half. He converted three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and Taft outscored the Bison 15-3 on shots beyond the 3-point line.
"We are going to learn from it and keep battling," Fenton coach Chaz Taft said. "We are holding teams under 50 points. We are playing hard and getting a lot of deflections on the defensive side of the ball.
"We have to put the ball in the basket too."
The crucial sequence unfolded at the start of the fourth quarter. After struggling with just one third-quarter basket in falling behind 27-22, Fenton demonstrated renewed energy with a layup from guard Marcus Rule and a putback by forward Gerell Wilson to pull within 3 points.
On the ensuing Taft possession the Bison forced a backcourt steal and a seemingly easy basket. The missed dunk symbolized the Bison's second-half scoring difficulties.
Taft responded with a layup and Lesch 3-pointer to pull away.
"I thought we lost a little bit of momentum when we missed the dunk," Chaz Taft said. "I thought that was the swing they got to boost them over the edge. If we make that layup, it's a 1-point game."
Fenton (3-9) rode the strong inside game of Diamon King in leading by as many as 5 points in the first quarter.
A junior forward King scored 8 of his 10 points. Senior forward Chris Bozewell scored three straight baskets in the second quarter, accounting for his 6 points. He was limited by foul trouble.
"Basically we were trying to get back into the game, and our rhythm was just not there," Bozewell said. "Honestly I thought our transition from offense to defense was a little off. They got into that press in the second half and we could not put it together."
Fenton turned the ball over 18 times, 12 in the second half. The Bison also missed their first 9 3-point attempts until junior guard Andre Reed drilled a long distance jumper with just over two minutes remaining.
Rule provided a spark off the bench with 8 points. Reed finished with 5 points.
"We made a lot of mental mistakes with our turnovers and not getting rebounds," Reed said. "We have to be stronger with the ball and move on. You are always going to have good days and bad days playing basketball. This was a bad day shooting for us."