The Fenwick boys basketball team was up by four with about two minutes to go against Loyola on Friday night when things went awry and the team had to settle for a 54-50 loss.
The Friars (2-3, 0-2 Catholic League), who had struggled with turnovers the entire game, handed the ball back to the Ramblers on four straight possessions in the closing minutes. Poor free throw shooting also contributed to Fenwick’s downfall. Down one with 29 seconds left, two missed shots from the charity stripe – followed by yet another turnover – put the game out of reach for the Friars.
In a scrappy effort by a Fenwick team that is made up mostly of juniors and underclassmen, inexperience seemed to catch up with the Friars at crunch time. Loyola scored 10 points off Fenwick’s 25 turnovers in the contest. The Friars made just 9-of-19 free throws on the night.
Peter Pujals led the Ramblers (4-3, 2-0) with 19 points, while Richie Wehmann finished with 16.
Junior guard Josh Carlisle scored 11 points for the Friars, who trailed 24-23 at halftime. Sam Ainsworth added nine points to go along with 16 rebounds.
“You could say we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory,” said Fenwick head coach John Quinn. “We didn’t sustain any offense and had too many turnovers. I’m happy with the way we played defense, which has been improving from game-to-game. But the turnovers and the poor shooting at the line are things we need to eliminate.”
Fenwick hosts Gordon Tech on Friday (7:30 p.m.).
