Girls Basketball: Fenwick powers past Proviso East

Updated: November 26, 2011 9:16PM

Fenwick coach Dave Power promised his team a new, fast-paced and exciting offense when they started practicing for this season.

That offense was on full display Saturday night as the No. 14 Friars raced past Proviso East 85-74 in the championship game of the Somebody’s Hero Thanksgiving Tournament at Niles North.

“I was very, very proud of the girls,” Power said. “We’ve only been doing this since the season started because you can’t do this in summer league games. It would have been tough to (beat Proviso East) in a half-court game because they have so much height. The girls had to believe in it.”

The Pirates (4-1) led 12-7 after the first quarter and the game was tied 20-20 in the second before the Friars (5-0) created some breathing room with a 18-6 run to end the first half. Five different Fenwick players scored during the streak.

The Friars kept pushing in the third quarter outscoring Proviso East 23-21 to move their advantage to 61-47. The Pirates never got within single digits in the fourth but made the score closer with some late threes.

Fenwick’s Meredith Boardman scored 10 of her-game high 30 points in the third quarter as the Friars flashed their potent offense.

“When coach (Power) first brought up the new offense we were nervous because of all the running,” Boardman said. “But we believe in the offense and we know that Coach Power knows what he’s doing. It’s an exciting game to be a part of.”

Sophomore Jade Owens, who scored 11 points and was named Tournament MVP, is enjoying the constant pressure defense and shoot-first mentality Fenwick is showcasing.

“It’s been a new experience because we’re all adjusting to the new offense,” Owens said. “But I think game-by game we’ve improved a lot. I think this tournament has really helped us to improve and learn what we need to do this year.”

Boardman was pleased to see the Friars get some revenge on Proviso East, which knocked them out of the playoffs last season with a 56-44 win in the York Sectional semifinals.

“They ended our season last year and I wanted to get this one for Coach Power,” Boardman said. “We had to pass the ball a little quicker, pump-fake on the perimeter because they had long arms and we just had to get back into the fundamentals of our offense.”

Proviso East was led by the trio of Stacey Welch (21 points), Kalea Parks (19 points) and Demetria Watson (13 points).

“It was a fast-paced game and both teams like to get a lot of their baskets off turnovers,” Pirates’ coach Ezra PridGeon said. “They were able to get those turnovers and capitalize on our mistakes.”

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