With all the talk about which girls basketball team is No. 1 in the nation, Indianapolis Ben Davis made certain of one thing Friday night at the Ameritch Shootout in Villa Park.
Fenwick isn’t.
The Giants came into Willowbrook’s gym and, in front of 1,775 fans, knocked off the top team in USA Today’s national rankings 67-51.
“I think we were gassed–we couldn’t keep up with their speed,” said Fenwick coach Dave Power, whose team suffered its first loss of the season and is now 15-1.
And it was difficult for the Friars to keep up with Tennessee-bound senior Shyra Ely, who finished with 25 points and nine rebounds for the 13-1 Giants.
“She was as difficult to guard as I thought she’d be,” Power said.
Ben Davis, USA Today’s preseason No. 1 but ranked ninth now, also got 13 points from Ohio State-bound guard Ashley Allen.
Erin Lawless, Fenwick’s highly rated 6-foot-2-inch sophomore, led the Friars with 20 points.
Sarah Kwasinski, like Lawless playing on a bad knee, came up with 15 points and six rebounds.
“They’ve got two big post players [the 6-2 Ely and 6-3 Kristin Van Valin], and it was hard to deal with their pressure and pressing,” Lawless said.
“It’s the little mistakes that hurt us.”
With Kwasinski on the bench having her right knee examined, Ben Davis went on an 11-0 run in the second quarter to take control of the game.
Fenwick, trailing 35-25 at halftime, got no closer than seven–at 51-44 with 5:59 left. Two straight baskets by Ely enabled Ben Davis to pull away again.
Kokomo and Indianapolis Cathedral made it a clean sweep for the Hoosier state. Washington coach Willie Byrd was less than thrilled after his team was pounded 68-36 by Kokomo, the No. 2 team in Indiana’s Class 4A.
“My team has a lot of attitude problems,” Byrd said after the Minutewomen lost their fourth straight to drop to 9-6.
“If I see it [Saturday], they’ll be playing somewhere else.”
Byrd has been stuck on 298 career victories since Dec. 28, when his team beat Stanford Olympia in the Bloomington/Normal tournament. And it hasn’t helped his cause to be without starting guard Donne Conley, who injured her knee against Hyde Park in mid-December.
Illinois-bound Angelina Williams, who led Washington with 19 points, isn’t very happy either.
“We were playing as a team, and then we just fell apart,” she said. “I don’t like it, but we’ve got to deal with it. You just have to try your best in every game.”
Kokomo (14-0) hit eight three-pointers in the first half to build a 35-19 lead. Sophomore Duenna Hendrix led the Wildcats with 17 points, while teammates Hillary Beck and Jennie Martin each finished with 15.
Maria was matched up against Indiana’s top 3A team, Indianapolis Cathedral, and the score showed it. The Mystics (5-14) lost 73-33 and were scoreless for the final 10:55.
Cathedral (13-1) was led by junior Sharika Webb’s 20 points.
