Fenton falls at tourney
Just seconds into a possession Fenton guard Ashley Lira pulled up against two Lincoln Park defenders and unleashed an 18-foot jump shot.
She never gave the shot a second thought.
Lira never has to worry about coach Dave Mello criticizing her shot selection. Like every other Bison player, she has a green light to play as free and unencumbered as necessary.
Lira scored 10 points and recorded 9 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists in Fenton's 65-54 loss against Public League school Lincoln Park in the start of pool play of the DePaul Prep/Northside Prep Christmas Classic Saturday.
In Mello's second year directing the Fenton program, the Bison have further refined his frenetic and fast-paced style predicated on full-court pressure and averaging up to 50 3-point attempts a game.
As a freshman and sophomore, Lira was part of a Bison program that endured back-to-back three-win seasons. Last year Fenton jumped its win total to 9-17.
"Honestly it has been kind of incredible," Lira said. "It's just a huge dramatic change and I really love it. I am a hustler, and the speed and everything we play at really works."
Fenton (8-7) played 16 players in the first quarter.
It is an equal opportunity offense. No player averages more than 7 points a game. Fourteen of the 18 players who saw action scored against Lincoln Park.
Two years ago, Fenton averaged 32 points a game with a season high of 50 points. Now the Bison are averaging 60 points a game with a season best of 75 points.
Assistant coach Tara Lawson, a former Fenton player who graduated in 2011, orchestrates the rotation patterns, typically bringing in groups of five players every minute or so.
"I like it a lot," Lira said. "I trust my teammates. I know as soon as I am out, they are going to do their job. Then the starters go back and do ours."
Fenton started hot against the Lions with first half runs of 5-0 and 7-0. Lincoln Park countered with bursts of 16-0 and 8-0 in jumping out to the 31-21 halftime advantage.
Sophomore guard Damya Taylor scored 28 points to lead the Lions (5-8). The Lions' length and size bothered the Bison shooters.
"Today we were a little off, a little slow," Mello said. "We could not catch the ball. Our number of 3s was way down. We typically shoot about 50 to 55 a game. We only had 17 (attempts) in the first half."
Senior Alexus Arzola added 10 points for the Bison.
"It's a very thrilling system because you are playing as many different positions as possible," Arzola said. "Our style is a bit out of the normal. We do like the speed and the hustle. Everything is done at a much faster pace and sometimes the other team can't catch us."
Fenton sliced a 22-point deficit (53-31) at the start of the fourth quarter to single digits. Fenton outscored the Lions 21-0 off 3-pointer to make the final score respectable.
Fenton plays host DePaul Prep on Wednesday. After nearly matching last year's win total, this is a confident group.
"Our motto is trust, be confident and stay together," Lira said. "We have gone against some very good teams. No matter the score, we know that we can be right back in and come out on top."