It was a somewhat good week for Fenwick boys basketball coach John Quinn. His brother, Pat, the current Governor of Illinois, won the Democrat primary election – albeit narrowly – and despite his Friars going 1-2 for the week, his young team showed vast improvement in certain areas.
The Friars (10-9, 6-4 Catholic League) pummeled Holy Trinity 55-30 on Saturday night, no doubt letting out a little frustration from two previous losses. David Suwada led the onslaught on Senior Night at Fenwick with 11 points. Edward Bruce scored a career-high nine points and pocketed three steals for the Friars, who jumped off to a 12-0 lead to start the game. Fenwick rolled into halftime up 33-15 and never looked back.
“This was a good win for us since we were coming off some very tough games where we played well but just fell short,” said Quinn. “Overall, I’m seeing a lot of improvement from this team and hopefully we can maintain that in the coming weeks.”
On Friday night, the Friars fell to De La Salle 54-51. Mike Mullin, who finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, hit a three-pointer with four seconds left in the game to pull Fenwick within three but time ran out for a chance at tying things up. Some positives that came from the loss for the Friars included Jack Dittmer and John Malone holding 6-foot-8 center Michael Shaw to just 11 points, and the fact that Fenwick made 15-of-17 shots from the free-throw line, where the team has struggled from all season.
With 1:45 left to go in the game, Dylan Barnett fouled out. He finished with 10 points and five assists. Tyler Sewall also finished with 10 points for the Friars.
Troy Torrence led De La Salle (12-6, 11-0) with 14 points.
On Feb. 2, the Friars fell 67-46 when Hales Franciscan got hot in the fourth quarter. Trailing by two going into the final stanza, Fenwick had trouble holding off Patrick Miller. The senior scored 11-straight points to begin the period, before finishing with a game-high 25 points, 22 of which came in the second half.
Suwada, Barnett and Sewall all finished with 13 points apiece for Fenwick.
“We need to get under having 20 turnovers in a game and that has been a problem,” added Quinn. “While the free throw shooting is improving, we need to work on other things. But I do feel we’re knocking on the door. I’m hoping right now we can sneak out a conference championship.”
The Friars host Loyola on Friday (7:30 p.m.).
