Girls Basketball: Fenwick gets by Geneva

Updated: January 25, 2012 10:13PM

Fenwick senior Marek Burchett wasn’t sure how much she could contribute during Wednesday’s nonconference game at Geneva.

Battling a calf and shin injury, Burkett only played a few minutes in Tuesday’s win over Buffalo Grove, but against the Vikings, she came off the bench to score 16 points, including back-to-back three-pointers late in the third quarter to five the Friars their biggest lead of the second half.

After four ties and three lead changes, Fenwick held on for a 79-71 victory.

“It’s a fun game, very entertaining for a fan and for coaches a little bit of heart palpitations,” Fenwick coach Dave Power said. “Early on it looked like (Geneva) might run off, but then we come back. That’s how the game usually goes. You play this style of ball and when you’re down 15 or 16 it feels like your down five. It’s not a thing where you panic.”

Fenwick (17-5) was down 25-15 after one quarter as the Friars committed 12 turnovers. In the second quarter, it was Geneva that succumbed to the Friars full-court press. The Vikings turned it over on nine occasions in the quarter.

The No. 13 Friars went on an 11-0 run to finally catch up and pull ahead of No. 10 Geneva in the second quarter. The Friars trailed 31-28 but thanks to three straight Geneva turnovers, they were able to score seven points in just 24 seconds to take a 35-31 lead. They’d rally to lead by as many as eight in the second quarter, but the Vikings added two late field goals to pull within 43-39 at halftime.

Geneva (19-4) took its final lead of the game at 49-47 with 6:20 remaining in the third quarter on a layup from Kelly Gordon (17 points, seven rebounds). The Vikings would only score two points during the next four minutes while the Friars went on a 13-2 run highlighted by Burchett’s three-pointers.

“I knew we had to keep them from coming back,” Burchett said. “Maggie (Reilly) has been great and she passed it to me on the first one, and the next time Jade (Owens) had an opening but had faith in me and I was able to hit again. It was great for our momentum. We really needed that.”

The Vikings were able to close the gap to 66-65 on a basket by Stevie Finale with 4:52 remaining, but wouldn’t get any closer.

“We lost, but we’re going to fight and we’re going to be right there in the end,” Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. “That was exhausting, but it was a good game. We’re right there. It’s a couple possessions and maybe a few less turnovers.”

The fast tempo pace led to many turnovers on both sides and plenty of opportunities for easy baskets. Fenwick committed 35 turnovers while Geneva had 28.

“That game was so fast and honestly I don’t know how many set offensive plays we ran,” Meadows said. “When you play that fast you’re going to have that many turnovers.”

Geneva struggled in trying to find someone to slow Fenwick senior Meredith Boardman who tallied a game-high 23 points and 17 rebounds. The Vikings lost 5-foot-10 Marquette recruit Ashley Santos to an injury earlier this season and Sami Pawlak (17 points, 13 rebounds) had the tough task of trying to stop Boardman.

Owens added 20 points and Paige Corvino contributed nine points off the bench for Fenwick which converted 23 of 29 free throws. Rachel Hinchman finished with 15 points and Michaela Loebel pitched in with 11 points for Geneva. The Vikings were 13 of 20 from the charity stripe.

Before the tip, former Geneva coach Gina Nolan delivered the game ball to center court and was recognized for her contributions and for beating breast cancer. She was also awarded a rose from each of Geneva’s players while receiving a standing ovation.

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