Boys Basketball: Fenwick takes down Nazareth

Updated: February 18, 2012 11:22PM

Even the presence of a 7-foot opponent underneath the basket didn’t put a damper on Fenwick’s dominance inside as the Friars ruled the boards in a 60-49 victory over host Nazareth Saturday night in LaGrange Park.

Fenwick (11-12) scored 12 second-chance points and survived a three-point barrage by the Roadrunners (6-15) in the second quarter for its sixth straight win behind 23 points from senior Sam Ainsworth, 12 from sophomore Scott Lindsey and contributions from eight other Friars.

“We went out and tried to contest every shot and block out and keep running, keep the game in a transitional mode,” Fenwick coach John Quinn said. “We struggle sometimes when teams sag in zones like Nazareth, and when we stand around we don’t always get the best shot, and we’re still learning that. We felt if we could beat them up the floor, that would open the game up and wear them down.”

Quinn said 6-foot-7 sophomore Dan Dwyer made things difficult for Nazareth’s 7-foot freshman center Tyler Jackson, who scored eight points, six coming late in the fourth quarter, but did not collect a rebound and had only one blocked shot. Dwyer pulled down nine boards and had two blocks while he tallied six points – four coming after offensive rebounds.

“I thought Danny did a good job on their big kid,” Quinn said. “We noticed he (Jackson) has a habit of dribbling every time he gets the ball so we put the pressure on him and he had some travels called and we got some steals. We wanted to double down and attack the ball when he got it in his hands, and it worked well. He’s not real mobile yet, so we just wanted to keep a body on him and keep him from getting out of a block out or a screen. But he’ll get better as he goes along, and he looks like he could be an outstanding player.”

Nazareth made nine baskets in the first half and seven were three-pointers, including five in the second quarter when the Roadrunners trimmed an 18-6 first-quarter deficit to 32-27 at halftime. Nazareth junior Dan Kienzle (17 points, three steals) drained three straight treys in the period to go along with another in the first quarter for 13 first-half points.

But after the Roadrunners drew to within one early in the third quarter, Fenwick’s offense and defense started to click again as the Friars’ five starters all got into a groove that led to a 48-37 advantage to start the fourth.

After Nazareth closed the gap to 32-31 with 6 minutes, 25 seconds still to go in the third quarter, Fenwick went on a 16-6 run.

After baskets by junior Luke Lattner (6 points) and sophomore Keshaun Smith (5 points), Lindsey nailed a three and Ainsworth canned a deuce. Dwyer pulled down a rebound of a missed shot and scored, then duplicated the effort a few minutes later as the Friars went up 44-36 after an Ainsworth free throw (11-of-14 from the line). It was Ainsworth’s seven straight free throws in the fourth quarter that iced the game for Fenwick.

“Our whole team did a good job of bringing energy and crashing the boards to get those second-chance opportunities, which are huge in a game like this,” Ainsworth said. “We played good defense most of the game. They went on a run in the second quarter and started to catch up, but we did a good job the rest of the way.

“I see us starting to gel as a team right now, making a big run and going deep into the playoffs – especially if we keep playing like we are now. It has been six straight and we just want to keep it rolling.”

Nazareth junior John Bonk Jr. scored 10 points and hauled in four rebounds, but it was not a pleasant night for him or his father, the Roadrunners’ head coach.

“They (Fenwick) jumped on us early and because of their intensity on the backboards, they got a lot of second-shot opportunities,” said Bonk Sr. “We didn’t clear the boards and that was important. In the second half we made a run and had some energy, but we lost that energy, especially at the defensive end, and didn’t run our offense as sharply as we could have to get back into the game.

“Then when we were down eight late in the game, I still felt we were in it but we didn’t step up our intensity on the defensive perimeter. Offensively, we hit some threes but sometimes we fall in love with it too much and we don’t get the ball inside. I think we’re a better team when we get a little more balance – inside, outside. I thought some of our decisions were good, but we might have forced a few too many shots at times.”

Despite a losing record, Bonk Sr. said he believes his young squad will only continue to improve.

“I think they have great potential,” he said. “I think we’ve competed with a lot of good teams. We’ve made some young mistakes, but when you have two freshmen, a sophomore, and two juniors with little or no varsity experience we have seen progression. We need to become better defensively. We do some good things offensively, but on the defensive end we play like a young team. We’re not consistent with our intensity or execution, so those are things we have to improve on.”

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