Boys Basketball: Luke Lattner leads Fenwick past Lyons

Updated: November 25, 2011 10:53PM

Luke Lattner scored a career-high 33 points to lead Fenwick to its first win of the season Friday night at Lyons.

Luke Lattner said he spends nearly 30 minutes after every practice to work on his shooting, particularly from the free-throw line.

That extra time came in handy Friday night as Latter scored a career-high 33 points, including 19 of 23 from the free-throw line, as Fenwick beat Lyons 74-61 in the second round of the Lyons Thanksgiving tournament in La Grange.

Lattner, a junior guard, made 14 consecutive free throws in the game and engineered a Fenwick (1-1) comeback in the second quarter when he scored nine points during an 18-0 run that opened the second quarter for the Friars. Lyons (1-1) led 19-11 to end the first quarter, but would not take another lead after being held 4:28 without a point. In the second quarter, Lyons shot 1 of 12 from the floor.

Lattner’s 13 points in the second quarter included nine free throws and teammate Samuel Ainsworth (eight rebounds) scored six of his 14 points in the game during the second quarter run.

“I was locked in. I was feeling pretty good and getting calls,” Lattner said. “We were in the double bonus with five minutes left in the first half.”

Fenwick shot 36 of 51 at the line while taking advantage of 37 Lyons fouls.

“They scored half their points [on free throws],” Lyons coach Tom Sloan said. “We need to feed off our defense. We get offense from our defense, but we need to do it without fouling.”

Lattner scored only scored one point in Fenwick’s season-opening 58-35 loss to Morton Nov. 23. He missed all eight of his shot attempts. The Friars are carrying five sophomores on their roster and had 14 players participate in their first varsity game in the opener.

“I was pretty disappointed [in that game]. I’m a captain and with a lot of sophomores I wanted to show them how to play,” Lattner said. “I came out and wanted to change that today.”

Lyons made a furious comeback in the second half and even came within 63-59 with 4:00 remaining in the game on Joe Carroll’s steal and layup. The rally was sparked by Carroll and Kenneth Smith, who each scored 12 points in the first half and finished with 14 points each. Lyons connected on 4-of-5 three-pointers in the third quarter and actually outscored the Friars 25-21 in the quarter.

“Everybody on the floor [contributed],” Sloan said. “We told the guys that to get back in the game, we need everybody to dig in.”

“Our pride was really, really challenged Wednesday [against Morton],” Fenwick coach John Quinn said. “Morton hit us solidly. We didn’t shoot well.””

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