Bishop Fenwick emerged victorious at home 50-47 after a hard fought battle against Winthrop on Tuesday. The Crusaders were led by captain James Meklis who scored a game high 16 points, while sophomore captain Nate Allder chipped in with 10. Winthrop was led by senior Jeremy Matias who finished with 14 points.
The first quarter saw the Crusaders and Vikings trading baskets to start the game. Meklis opened the scoring for the Crusaders with a put-back layup after the Vikings failed to secure a rebound.
Sophomore guard Brady Jenkins (four points) was running the Crusaders’ offense, and was the initiator for their 2-2-1 press. Jenkins caught the Vikings sleeping, stealing an outlet pass and quickly surveying the floor to see cutting teammate James Vahey (eight points) who finished the layup.
The Vikings continued to fight back with a three from George Galuris (11 points). Matias got on the scoresheet for the Vikings as he followed up Galuris’ three with a strong layup to complete a quick 5-0 run.
At the end of the first quarter, Fenwick led 15-14.
In the second, Fenwick was determined to grab every offensive rebound and loose ball in its vicinity. It seemed as if every basket Fenwick made was a result of hustle, especially from John Kennedy, Kurtis Bruch (three points), James Vahey (eight points), and Ben Zaniboni (six points) who all battled hard.
Meklis tracked down a long offensive rebound and drilled a three as the Crusaders raced out to a 7-2 run to begin the quarter. Following the Meklis three, Vahey got involved in the action. He out-hustled the Vikings to grab an offensive rebound and put it back up for a quick basket. The next possession, Vahey received the ball off a dribble-handoff and drove strong to the rim, laying it in for another basket for the sophomore.
“Size-wise, we are not the biggest team around so we’re trying to just get after it, trying to get rebounds. We’re trying to get them on the offensive end and defensive end,” Fenwick head coach Kevin Moran said.
The Vikings responded with another three by Galuris to make the score 24-21 with four minutes left in the second, but the Crusaders extended their lead going into the break 36-23.
In the second half, both teams were cold shooting the ball. Both continued to play with lots of energy, but neither took advantage of the other side’s misses. The Crusaders scored six points in the third quarter compared to the Vikings who scored five. Fenwick held a 14-point advantage heading to the final quarter.
“I think it is natural for these guys. I think they rely on the three too much. We had four possessions where we took quick threes and that’s a problem,” Moran said.
In the fourth quarter, all the momentum was with Winthrop. The Vikings rallied behind senior Zachary Bogusz (nine points) who scored seven points in the final quarter. Bogusz scored four points in quick order to cut the lead to 10 with less than five minutes to go.
Matias followed up Bogusz with two back-to-back layups for the Vikings to cut the lead to six with less than three minutes to play. The Vikings caused Fenwick to speed its game up which played into the hands of Winthrop. Fenwick had trouble breaking the press of Winthrop and even when the Crusaders did, shots didn’t fall.
The Vikings went on a 11-0 run to make it a three point game with less than two minutes remaining. When the Crusaders needed a basket, it was Meklis who stepped up as he ended the run with a scooping layup.
Both teams traded baskets and with the Crusaders up three points with seconds remaining, Meklis stepped to the line and drilled both free throws to essentially ice the game. Fenwick held on to win 50-47.
“James [Meklis] and Nate [Allder] – we are looking at them to be our leaders. James is a wonderful shooter. He is just a kid who put in a lot of time in the gym and it is showing,” Moran said.
The Crusaders next play Thursday at Peabody with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
