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Fenwick hopes to finally have momentum

Friday, January, 04 By Matt Jenkins
Staff writer

It's hard to predict season-changing moments, but Bishop Fenwick coach Tim Harrington hopes he witnessed one earlier this week.

Fenwick badly needed to catch a break in a brutal early-season schedule that brought narrow back-to-back losses to Melrose (66-63) and Peabody (55-52) in the Tanner City Holiday Tournament last week. The Crusaders were locked in another tight game Wednesday night at Tewksbury when junior point guard Bridget Dullea turned a steal into a 3-point play that gave her team a one-point lead. Fenwick went on to win, 56-54, and improved to 2-4.

Although they are undersized, the fact that the Crusaders are two games under .500 is difficult to grasp. Despite spurts of ineffectiveness, Fenwick hasn't played all that bad. It's really just a sign of a strong schedule.

The potential good news is that this type of win can be a momentum swing for Fenwick. The bad news is that Fenwick's schedule doesn't really get any easier with powers like Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop Williams and Arlington Catholic in the Catholic Central League.

"Our short-term goal is to get back to .500," Harrington said. "We had a tough schedule early on, but we can't get down. I think we believe that we're better than our record shows."

Losing one close game to a good team can bring a feeling of confidence to a team, but dropping two could have had the players feeling like they were star-crossed.

The win over Tewksbury might be the perfect remedy.

"God, I hope so," Harrington said. "One of my first thoughts after losing two tough ones was that the kids could start having bad thoughts. A win is a win, but to win a close one like that | especially in the situation we are in right now | is really nice."

Dullea and classmate Lauran DiCarlo have been playing at a very high level, and if the team can get a little more support, it will make a run at its long-term goal of making the tournament.

Dullea is averaging 16.7 points per game and has knocked down 14 3-pointers so far. DiCarlo, meanwhile, is averaging 11.7 points per game while playing out of position at the 4-spot.

"Dullea has very impressive numbers and she's been doing it unselfishly. She runs the offense and doesn't force anything," Harrington said. "Lauran is playing a little out of position. It's tough to be on the block all the time, but we need her to do it and she never says a word about it." Momentum is a hard thing to control, but Harrington knows there are ways for his team to do it.

"We have to get a more consistent effort. We haven't learned yet that you have to go 32 minutes. We can't have three or four minute spurts where we let up," Harrington said. "We have to box out better also. I realize we're undersized so it's tough on the boards, but we have to box out. We're stressing those things and we'll continue to work on them."