The Fenwick girls basketball team will be shooting for its fourth straight Charger Classic Tournament when the Friars take on Bartlett tonight (7 p.m.) in the opening round at Dundee Crown.
A four-peat could be a tough challenge for the Friars (12-2), who lost four starters to graduation after winning the Class AA State Championship last season. Every opponent will be looking to knock Fenwick off its pedestal, especially since the team has hefted six Charger Classic championship trophies since 1999. But with a mediocre field at this year’s tournament and super sophomores Tricia Liston and Katlyn Payne, the Friars are likely to be playing No. 2-ranked Buffalo Grove in the championship game come Saturday (8 p.m.).
A win tonight would pit Fenwick against either Dundee Crown or Prospect tomorrow at 8 p.m. If the Friars continue to win, they’ll play Friday night, again at 8 p.m. As of last week, Buffalo Grove was undefeated with 11-straight wins.
First Friar opponent formidable
The Fenwick boys basketball team drew a formidable first-round opponent for the 47th Annual Proviso West Holiday Tournament that begins in Hillside today.
The Friars play highly-ranked Homewood-Flossmoor today at 1:45 p.m. in Game 4 of the first round. The Vikings have been ranked as high as No. 2 in the state and as of last week hadn’t lost a game yet this season. Their sky-rocket up the rankings came after a 66-55 upset of Whitney Young on Dec. 9.
The Friars, who played Homewood Flossmoor twice over the summer to a 1-1 record, will be busy trying to shutdown stars Kevin Dillard, Robert Ellington and Suppo Sanni, who is headed to Illinois to play football in the fall. Sanni, a 6-foot-4-inch, 220-pound guard, scored 25 points and hauled down 15 rebounds in the win over Whitney Young.
The winner moves into the second round to take on either Von Steuben or Proviso East tomorrow at 5:15 p.m. The losers in the first round would play at 10:30 a.m.
If the Friars have a rough go with H-F but win in the first round of the consolation bracket, they’ll play Friday at 11 a.m.
Marquee match-ups that could arise are H-F versus top-ranked Marshall in the semifinals on Friday at 6:30 p.m. or New Trier versus St. Joseph tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m.