Chris Williams was the man for Fenwick Tuesday night.
And nobody knew that better than Corey Maggette, who was teasing his buddy after Fenwick’s 69-52 Class AA sectional victory over St. Joseph at Lyons.
The second-ranked Friars (26-2) advance to Friday’s title game against the winner of Wednesday’s De La Salle-Proviso East matchup.
The 6-foot-6-inch Maggette wasn’t around long after the start of Tuesday’s game as 50 seconds into the second quarter he was whistled for his third foul.
Maggette played the first 15 seconds of the third quarter before returning to the bench with his fourth foul. He wound up with six points and five rebounds.
Emerging from Maggette’s considerable shadow, Williams put on a sparkling show.
Scoring from various angles, Williams made 10 of 12 shots and finished with 27 points.
“I wanted the ball every time,” Williams said. “Someone had to step up with Corey in foul trouble. I knocked down my first two shots, and after that I just wanted to go.”
Quentin Gilmore (12 points), 6-8 Jabari Harris (12 points, eight rebounds) and Sean Toolan (10 points) were right behind him.
“You can’t do it without role players, and those three (Gilmore, Harris and Toolan) really hurt us,” St. Joseph coach Gene Pingatore said. “Plus, our defense was the worst we’ve played all year.”
Fenwick broke ahead early, but Maggette’s foul trouble and the scoring of Marlon London (18 points) led to a 14-3 St. Joe run and a four-point lead midway through the second quarter.
The Friars regrouped behind Harris and led 34-33 at halftime. No. 8 St. Joe (20-7) came within 41-39 before finishing the third quarter down 51-44. Fenwick maintained a seven-point advantage before sealing it with a 12-0 run.
“Nobody was really nervous when Corey was out because we all know this is much more than a one-man team,” Harris said.
Harris limited Rob Walls to seven points before Walls fouled out with 5:45 left in the game.
Besides looking to compensate for Maggette’s absence, St. Joseph transfer Gilmore had to ignore St. Joe’s rowdy student section.
“I just made sure I hit my free throws so that would shut them up,” Gilmore said.
