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Fenwick overpowers Purcell Marian

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1:20 AM Wednesday, February 1, 2012

By Eric Hickey

Contributing Writer

MIDDLETOWN — While the unseasonably warm temperatures brought thoughts of spring to many, the red-hot shooting touch displayed by the Fenwick High School boys basketball team must have made visiting Purcell Marian feel like the Fourth of July had come early.

The Falcons put on a fireworks display which was only stopped by the final whistle, bombing the visiting Cavaliers into submission in a 79-46 Greater Catholic League triumph.

Facing a zone defense, Fenwick was patient, moving the ball until someone was wide open and then rained shot after shot, nailing 30-of-40 from the field, including 8-of-10 from beyond the arc to improve to 8-7, 3-7 GCL Central.

“Unfortunately from our perspective, that is not the first time an opponent has had a game like that,” Purcell coach Bryan Laake said. “We are a little undersized and a little slow and we have to play zone. (Fenwick) was the home team, they were confident and we didn’t do enough to disrupt their shooting.”

The Falcons put 14 players in the scoring column, with four in double figures led by Connor Ridge’s team-high 14. Frank Catrine added 12 points (all in the first half), with five rebounds and six assists, Kevin Christie nailed four first half treys in notching 12 points and Jeff Klaas chipped in 11.

While Fenwick coach Pat Kreke wasn’t surprised by the zone defense, and he loved the shooting percentage, his biggest plus was his squad’s patience finding the open shooter.

“We haven’t always done a good job of being patient this year against a zone but the kids did a good job tonight,” Kreke said. “Tonight we took our time, worked the ball around and got some good shots. If you can shoot against a zone, the zone is in trouble and we were shooting well.”

Christie and Ridge each tallied two treys as Fenwick jumped out 16-0. Purcell, which was led by Larry Mixon’s game-high 15 points, cut the deficit to 21-9, but Fenwick rattled off 21 of the next 22 points on its way to a 43-14 halftime bulge.

The Falcons began the second half on a 8-0 run to put the game away. They built a lead of 56-19 in the third and led 68-34 entering the fourth before Kreke emptied his bench.

“I was happy for the kids, they all got in the (scoring) book,” Kreke said. “The kids all got to have some fun and we don’t come back to practice tomorrow all beat up. We are also pretty confident after shooting so well.”

Fenwick will need that confidence on Saturday when it visits the Ervin J. Nutter Center for an encounter with Kettering Alter.

Purcell, which fell to 4-11, 1-6 GCL, plays Friday at Roger Bacon.

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