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Dominic Ducree was going to pass the ball to Nate Marshall.
It was better that he kept it.
The Fenwick junior’s 3-pointer off an inbounds play from Ty Macariola with 3.4 seconds left lifted the Friars to a 51-50 victory over West Aurora in Friday’s Hoops 4 Healing championship game at Oswego.
“One of our coaches drew it up and at first I was supposed to get the initial catch,” Ducree said, “but I had six 3s already so I was going to pass to Nate (Marshall) but couldn’t get the pass off and then I looked at the clock and looked back and I just shot it and it went in. I had my feet set and tried to stay in my pocket and it went in the net.”
West Aurora (2-2) looked like it was ready to pull away after Terrence Smith’s thunderous jam with 4:27 left in the third quarter extended the Blackhawks lead to 48-39.
“We allowed them to hang around,” Blackhawks coach Mike Fowler said. “I thought there were some times where I thought we were going get away from them, but we allowed them to hang around and they took advantage.”
Trailing 50-44, the Friars attacked the basket, getting a pair inside from Marshall and another from Kamren Hogan to pull within 50-48 with just less than a minute remaining.
“In the fourth quarter we kind of made some decisions which weren’t conducive to us winning the basketball game,” Fowler said. “I thought we played hard and we were right there where we wanted to be with them. The kids hit a tough shot but the boys were right there on them.”
Fenwick (3-1) finished the game on a 9-0 run over nearly four minutes.
“To be in our first tournament and to be down and come back, says something about your team,” Fenwick coach David Fergerson said. “I liked the fight in the team. They had belief. They did a really a good job putting their heads down and grinding it out and fighting to get stops when we needed them big-time.”
Ducree led the Friars with 23 points, making 7-of-8 3-pointers.
Macariola added 14 points.
The Blackhawks had kept Ducree quiet after he made his fifth and sixth 3-pointers within a 30-second span with 2:49 left in the third quarter. In the end, the kid rose to the occasion and delivered despite heavy pressure.
“We had that play in our back pocket,” Fergerson said “My assistant coach drew it up and Dom had already made six (3-pointers) so we had someone else in the spot and had them switch. The kid made a tough, big-time shot.”
Smith led the Blackhawks with 12 points. Calvin Savage and Jordan Brooks each had 10 points.
Fenwick won the tournament for the first time.
“This is so exciting,” Ducree said. “We kept playing. I’m so happy right now.”
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