Fenton falls to Brooks in pool play
Everything felt good for senior guard Isa Lozada in the first quarter Friday against Brooks.
Her first 3-point attempted banked in from the right angle, underlining the fight and tenacity of a Bison team out to make a good accounting against long odds.
With four regulars out with illness or injury, Fenton needed everything to go its way.
The team rained down 3-pointers at the start, converting three of its first six attempts in jumping out to a 7-point lead. The Eagles locked then down. Suddenly nothing connected.
Fenton went scoreless from the field in the second quarter and tried passionately though without avail to recover in the 61-44 loss against the Eagles in the final pool play game of the DePaul Prep/Northside Christmas Classic Friday in Chicago.
The Bison (8-9) move to the seventh-place game against Northside at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at DePaul Prep.
"That second quarter they really locked us down and exposed a lot of our weaknesses," Fenton coach Dave Mello said. "They got out on our shooters, up on us with the ball and they were very physical. This is what we need. This tournament has been great. Yeah, we are 0-3, but we do not see teams like this in our conference.
"We are learning from this tournament."
With senior catalyst Ashley Lira out with a foot injury, Lozada took control by scoring the team's first seven points. She finished with a team-best 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists.
Brooks standout guard Mikalah Ellis scored a game-high 17 points for the Eagles (6-3), who finished 3-0 in the DePaul bracket. An Ellis jumper put the Eagles up 14-13 after one quarter.
Fenton went nearly eight minutes without scoring, and managed just two points, on free throws, in the quarter in trailing 31-15 at halftime.
"Our shots were not falling," Lozada said. "Their defense was tough, and we struggled to score. We have become very successful with our fast-paced style, and we just have to go into the game tomorrow knowing we can win."
Fenton outscored the Eagles 21-3 on 3-point shots. The team played with passion and intensity. The Eagles' athleticism and size proved an insurmountable challenge.
Fourteen Fenton players saw action. Senior guard Mackenzie Miller, who scored 2 points, embodied the resilience and tenacity of the team, going hard into the middle for rebounds and playing as though each possession was a matter of duty.
Senior center Alexus Arzola contributed 7 points and 8 rebounds.
"I think we played hard the whole game, but they just started to score more in that second quarter," Miller said. "We never gave up or anything."
Like his players, Mello is stressing the long view and the big picture. In playing against athletic city programs like Brooks and Lincoln Park, Fenton taps into the part of its game that needs work and refinement. Mello even experimented with a diamond-and-one defense to slow down Ellis.
"Our record in these games does not mean anything," he said. "We wanted to work on that defense against a phenomenal player like Ellis. We wanted to prove to ourselves that we could do that. Our rebounding was really good in the second half.
"If there is time on the clock, we are going to compete."