Boys Basketball: Ridgewood takes down Fenton

Updated: December 10, 2011 4:37PM

After falling to Notre Dame last week, the Ridgewood boys’ basketball team looked to bounce back and start the Metro Suburban Conference schedule on the right foot against Fenton on Dec. 9 in Norridge.

In the first quarter, the Rebels scored the first points of the game when senior Pete Mroz scored on a layup. That lead would be short lived as Fenton hit a shot and made a free throw to take a 3-2 lead. Then with the Bison leading 5-4, senior Colin Wallace extended the lead with a three-pointer to put the Bison up 8-4 and they would hold a 16-13 lead after one quarter.

Halfway through the second quarter, the Bison led 25-22 and extended the lead to 28-22 when junior DeMarcus Stone drilled a three from the top of the key, prompting Rebels head coach Chris Mroz to call a timeout. After the timeout, the Rebels responded with a 7-2 run to get to within one at 30-29 at halftime.

After halftime, the Rebels gave up two quick baskets to trail 34-29 then senior Josh Santiago hit a three from the corner to get the Rebels within two at 34-32. They would get to within one once again when senior Andy Mazurczak made one of two free throws. The teams would then exchange baskets to make the score 36-35 but after the Bison turned the ball over, Mazurczak hit a three to give the Rebels their first lead since early in the game, at 38-36.

From there, the Rebels extended the lead to 10 at 48-38 when Santiago nailed a jumper with 2 minutes, 31 seconds left in the quarter. After three, the Rebels led 52-44. But a foul was called when Wallace attempted a three at the buzzer. Plus coach Mroz was called for a technical foul, so Wallace attempted five free throws and made four of them to get the Bison within four at 52-48.

Early in the fourth, the Bison got to within two when Wallace hit a jumper to make it 54-52, but Mroz hit a three to extend the lead to 57-52, a lead they would not give up as they held on for a 72-63 victory.

The Rebels were led by Mazurczak, who finished with 25 points. Pete Mroz added 12 points and sophomore Anthony Mroz chipped in 10. The Bison were led by Wallace’s 22 points and senior Adam Kadlec added 13.

“He was great today. He was aggressive the whole night,” said Mroz regarding Mazurczak. “I think the biggest thing with him is just being aggressive. There’s times where he’s a little passive but as far as his offense, he did a great job.”

In the first half, the Bison seemingly got any shot they wanted, but in the second half, the Rebels put a stop to that with added defensive pressure.

“In the first half, they dictated the tempo,” said coach Mroz. “In the second, we kind of put it on with our speed and we tried to get it past guys to try and make it a little harder for them. We did a pretty good job in the second half.

(At halftime) I told them that we were playing at their tempo and we need to pick it up and be a little more aggressive.”

Mazurczak added, “In the first half, they kind of got easy layups because we didn’t match up. In the second half, we tried to get back on defense. We ran a different defense, man instead of zone, full court, which kind of sped them up and forced some turnovers, which we finished.”

“I was just trying to get a win because we lost our last game. Our record’s not that great, it should have been a little better so were just focusing on (improving that).”

The Rebels did just that, improving to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in MSC play. Next up, the Rebels travel to Illiana Christian on Dec. 16. Then they take on Morgan Park on Dec. 18 as part of the Chicago Hoops Shootout at Ridgewood.

“Illiana is a hostile environment and if we play like this tonight we’ll get beaten but if we play like we played at Notre Dame, we’ll be there,” said coach Mroz. “I think we’ve got a chance.”

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