Falcons slowly move forward
Roach’s 12 points, grinding defense lead physical win.
FENWICK 33, CARROLL 30
— Juggernaut MIDDLETOWN status isn’t right around the corner for Fenwick High School’s boys basketball team, but the Falcons are slowly striding forward.
Dan Roach tallied 12 points Tuesday night as Fenwick won for the third time in four games, grinding out a 33-30 victory over visiting Carroll in Greater Catholic League Coed North Division play.
“The kids made a little leap tonight,” said Falcons coach Pat Kreke, whose squad improved to 3-6 overall and 1-3 in the GCL. “They played with confidence down the stretch, and I thought they handled themselves very well. I’m very pleased and proud of them.”
Tough man-to-man defense was employed by both teams in this one. It was physical, GCL-style basketball.
Blake Kistner tossed in eight points for Fenwick, which committed 15 turnovers, but only one in the fourth quarter.
Roach pushed the Falcons ahead for good with 1:08 left, snapping a 2929 deadlock with a driving layup.
“It was basically a layup-only situation,” Roach said. “So I saw the layup and took it.”
Fenwick was 2 of 5 from the foul line in the last 33.5 seconds, with Roach and Bradley Schuh sinking one apiece. Sandwiched between those conversions was a Jackson Jabir free throw for the Patriots (7-2, 2-2).
Jabir grabbed the rebound on Schuh’s misfire with 3.5 seconds remaining and hit the backboard with a bomb from beyond half court at the buzzer.
“Give credit to Fenwick,” Carroll coach Tim Cogan said. “We held our opponent to 33 points and lost, so we’ve got to look in the mirror a little bit. We didn’t play consistently at all … ”
Jabir (14) and David Ivey (10) led the Patriots’ scoring. Ivey began the night as the GCL Coed’s No. 1 scorer with a 19.1 average.
Roach is coming off a lengthy suspension and has only played in two games, but the Falcons are 2-0 with him on the floor. The senior guard scored a team-high 15 points in their 39-38 win over Twin Valley South last Saturday.
“I feel like I let my team down before, so I just want to go out there and prove myself to everybody,” Roach said. “It’s been a roller-coaster kind of year. From here, we’ve just got to keep building every game.”
Jimmy Gephart had six points and five rebounds for Fenwick, and Roach snagged four boards.
Both squads are back in action Friday. The Falcons will host Chaminade Julienne, while the Patriots visit Alter.