Girls Basketball: Fenwick powers past Nazareth

Updated: December 15, 2011 10:27PM

Fenwick set a frenzied pace from the opening tip, taking a double-digit lead against Nazareth Academy before either team could break a sweat, and the host Friars went on to a 76-32 win in an East Suburban Catholic Conference matchup Thursday in Oak Park.

Senior center Meredith Boardman (20 points, 15 rebounds) led a 25-0 run to start the game as she scored the Friars’ first eight points, finishing the first quarter with 12 to go along with four rebounds and a steal, to help her team build a 25-4 advantage after the first eight minutes.

The Friars (8-2, 1-2 ESCC) held the Roadrunners (5-6, 0-3) scoreless until junior Michelle Lozier hit a pair of free throws with 1 minute, 50 seconds to go in the opening period. Nazareth hits its first and only field goal of the quarter when junior Megan Tobin (nine points, three rebounds) swished a jumper with 27 seconds left.

“Nazareth is short-handed with a lot of injuries, but we played pretty much like we like to play – a lot of shot attempts and real fact action,” Fenwick coach Dave Power said. “Tonight we worked on trying to get the fast-break going and, defensively, get some good traps. We executed well, and the score got out of hand, and we backed that off quite a bit. But if you noticed, when we did that our offense really stalled.”

Nazareth outscored Fenwick 10-7 in the third quarter as the pace of the game slowed after the Friars held a 53-16 lead at halftime, ignited by a 12-2 run to open the second.

Fenwick increased the cushion to 42-10 with 3:30 to play in the second thanks to some help off the bench from sophomore Maya Garland (seven points, four rebounds), senior Mary Devereaux (six points) and junior Sarah Pezza (nine points – all on three-pointers, four rebounds, two steals), who each hit from downtown to contribute to the scoring barrage.

Junior Maggie Reilly (14 points, three rebounds, two steals) also found her shooting touch with five straight points, including a long trey, to keep the Friars in control. Senior guard Marek Burchett pulled down six first-half rebounds and dished out four assists to go along with her nine points on the night.

We’re trying to work on our offense for the next game when we get that far ahead of an opponent,” Burchett said. “We want to do more than just try to hold on to the lead. We want to bring our offense together, improve on defense and just continue to get better with each game.

“I like to work on my shot, see if I can get it and my entire game come more together, and do things to get my entire team involved. I know we can be really good and I want to see that full potential come out in us as the season progresses.”

Boardman agreed that she and her team need to continue to work on several aspects of the game.

“We wanted to maintain the intensity we had in the second half, and particularly the fourth quarter and overtime, against Oak Park (101-91 OT win) the other night, and come out strong,” Boardman said. “I think we did that, and we got ahead early by a lot so we try to work on things on defense, like rotating, and focus on key things in our offense. I thought everyone did a really nice job. We looked like we did in the Niles North Tournament. We got back to that team mentality the last couple of games that we seemed to lose in a couple of our losses.

There’s always room for improvement in my game, but I think I need to work on being more consistent in my three-point shooting,” she added, with a grin. “I like shooting threes, I just wish they would go in a little more often.”

Nazareth was led in scoring by Tobin, while Lozier chipped in seven points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Senior Grace Rafferty tallied six points and sophomore Katelyn Cahill added four.

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