Bench propels IC Catholic Prep past Fenton
A year ago, IC Catholic Prep suffered a disappointing loss on Fenton's home court.
Tuesday during the Bison's Senior Night, the bench of the Knights helped make sure boys basketball history didn't repeat itself.
Led by 18 points from Kevin Cheng, IC picked up a 62-50 win over Fenton in Bensenville to stay tied atop the Metro Suburban Blue Division standings.
"We brought a lot of energy," said Cheng, a usual starter who came off the bench against the Bison. "And it really helped having Luke (Ricobene) back, he has a ton of energy. Overall it was a good win, a little sloppy at times, but we weathered the storm when they were coming back."
Ricobene was playing in his first varsity game of the year after suffering a knee injury late in the fall during the Knights' run to a football state championship. Entering the game in the second quarter along with fellow subs Nico Gaudio and Galvin Gecsey, the junior was part of a 15-0 run to break a 16-16 tie.
All in all, the visitors' bench scored 34 of the team's 62 points, helping to offset a scoreless outing from leading scorer Austin Reed, who shot only four times. Ricobene checked into double figures with 12 points.
Alex Meurer had 13 points and Amari Reed finished with 10 as the Knights went 21 of 25 from the free-throw line.
"Fenton has been playing really well," IC coach T.J. Tyrrell said. "They play hard and they've been doing a lot of good things. Being a Tuesday night and their Senior Night, we had to come out with energy. I thought we were composed with our free-throw shooting, that was a key to victory.
"And we got good bench play. They came in and ran the offense and were patient. They weren't forcing shots and when they found the open man, they finished. It was also exciting to have Luke back, he changes the dynamic of our team."
Trailing 33-23 at halftime, Fenton (8-14, 1-7) pulled to within 4 in the third quarter after back-to-back baskets by Nick Schaub. Then the Knights ended the period on a 6-1 spurt.
Schaub had 10 points and 7 rebounds. Tyler Santagata led the Bison, who saw their five-game winning streak snapped, with 15 points. Bryan Larsen contributed 11 points and 4 of the team's 14 steals.
"We got some steals," Fenton coach Chaz Taft said. "Just a couple of missed layups here and there; we'd be down 6, have a chance to cut it to 4 and it would jump back to 8. Those momentum things caught up to us at the end.
"Obviously, you would love to get the win on Senior Night but everybody played hard and contributed."
IC Catholic, which improved to 16-7 overall, is tied with Aurora Central Catholic at 7-2 in the Metro Suburban Blue. Glenbard South is one game back at 6-3. The Knights and Raiders clash on Friday.
"Recently we've been able to jell together," Cheng said. "We know there is going to be a lot of close games, but if we play team ball and stay positive and stay together, we know we will end up being happy with the results."