The Fenwick boys basketball team heads up to Hillside for the holidays to once again take part in the Proviso West Holiday Hoops Tournament. Only this time, the Friars are the small fish in a very large pond.
The tournament has expanded to 32 teams and 61 games this season. The games, to be played not only in Proviso West’s main gym but in the school’s field house as well on a temporary court, will spread out over six days, culminating with the championship on Dec. 31.
The tournament features such teams as third-ranked Morgan Park, fifth-ranked Proviso East and Crespi Carmelite of Encino, Calif, a team led by Virginia-bound point guard London Perrantes.
Fresh from holiday merriment, Fenwick will enter into the hoops bazaar on Dec. 26 to face the host Proviso West at 3:45 p.m.
“Proviso West is a very athletic team, so we’ll have our work cut out for us,” said Fenwick head coach John Quinn. “We have the ability to make some headway in this tournament. It’s a matter of playing our style of basketball consistently.”
A win over Proviso West would pit the Friars likely against Morgan Park, a team that was undefeated at 6-0 last week. That game would be in the main gym on Thursday, Dec. 27 at 8:30 p.m.
If the Friars lose to Proviso West, they’ll face Wheaton Academy on Thursday (8:45 p.m.) in the fieldhouse.
Individual game tickets are priced at $12 (downstairs seating) and $10 (upstairs access) per session during the opening rounds and for all championship rounds. All non-championship session tickets are priced at $10 for four games in those sessions.
Other high schools playing in the tourney include: New Trier, Stevenson, St. Joseph, Westinghouse College Prep, and Homewood-Flossmoor.
Twenty-nine players in the tournament have gone on to play professional basketball, including Mark Aguierre, Isiah Thomas, Glenn Rivers, Juwan Howard, Kevin Garnett and Fenwick graduate Corey Maggette.
For more information on game times, visit pwhoops.com.
