Fenton sends off seniors with a win against Elgin

Fenton will host a Class 3A boys basketball regional, but senior night on the last home game of the regular season is something special.

"One last game with my family," as senior guard Andre Reed put it.

The Bison brotherhood got off to a good start Friday against Elgin, making 15 of 29 first-half field-goal attempts. For the game Fenton forced the Maroons into 25 turnovers and won the Upstate Eight Conference contest 61-44 in Bensenville.

Fenton (19-11, 10-7) has won its most games in a season since the 1975-76 Bison won 21. It's been a satisfying culmination of a process for the seniors as well as for coach Chaz Taft, a Fenton graduate in his fourth year as the Bison's coach.

"This four years these kids have been just putting in the hard work. I'm really happy for them," he said. "Just showing everybody the hard work, it pays off in the end."

And, at the start on Friday. Fenton's 1-3-1 zone defense forced 5 first-quarter turnovers. Between the resulting transition baskets and a push inside by three-year starter Diamon King, and Frank Krygier off the bench, the Bison led 18-10 after one quarter.

"We want to come out and put an emphasis right away, make an impact on (the game)," said senior guard Jose Alvarez. "We get after it, 1-3-1, every deflection, high-fives. Just get after it, building the culture."

Though Elgin's athletic, 6-foot-5 Jeffery Lomax had 2 of his 5 blocks, the second quarter was more of the same. Fenton's Reed kicked in offensively as did another forward off the bench, Gerell Wilson. The Bison led 32-19 at halftime.

"It's been a struggle," said Elgin coach Todd Allen, "but their effort (is strong) and when they find each other it's nice to see, and that's what we've been trying to build on."

Such as when senior guard Prem Patel drew eyes, then passed to Lomax all alone for a third-quarter layup. After inside baskets by Dion Rodgers and another by Lomax, Elgin (5-23, 1-16) drew within 36-28 at 3:43 of the third quarter.

And then, Allen said, "the wheels kind of fell off."

Wilson scored twice inside to trigger an 11-2 run that gave Fenton a 47-30 lead after three quarters. Lomax and Darien Jackson trimmed the deficit to 13 and 14 a couple times, but a Reed 3 and King's Eurostep layup built it back up.

"It's always a blessing to be able to play the game, so we'll look at this as a learning experience," said Lomax, who scored a game-high 19 points, with Rodgers scoring 8. "We want to be able to grow off this game and be able to use this as fuel to the fire coming into the regionals, and next season."

Reed scored 12 points with 5 steals for Fenton. King scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds on his last home regular-season game.

"It doesn't feel real, it doesn't," said the 6-2 forward. "I'm going to miss the place like crazy. I remember coming in here and barely wanting to go to practice. Now this is what I do and I love it, every second of it. It's heartbreaking that I've got to go."