Jan. 24--The fourth quarter was only one possession old when the best player on the floor picked up his fourth foul. As far as his coach was concerned, there was no decision to be made.
"If I'm going to lose," Fenwick's Rick Malnati said, "he's going to play."
When Mike Smith is on his game, Fenwick losses are becoming increasingly unlikely.
Five days after dropping 38 points on Simeon in a signature Fenwick victory, Smith went for 34 on Saturday as the No. 4 Friars took No. 11 Riverside-Brookfield's best shot and recovered to win 67-64 at the When Sides Collide showcase at Glenbard East in Lombard.
The 5-foot-9 Smith, an unsigned senior, made three 3-pointers in the third quarter and scored 24 points in the second half as Fenwick (17-2) battled back from a 32-23 halftime deficit.
"It shows how hard I've been working," Smith said. "I finally woke up I guess you can say and started knocking down shots I knew I could hit but wasn't really looking for in the beginning of the year.
"When the team needs me, I have to provide that. My confidence is really high right now, but you really never know."
Riverside-Brookfield (14-3) has a couple of pretty good guards of its own in Daniko Jackson and Jalen Clanton, and they took it upon themselves to get 6-7 center Mark Smith going early.
The Bulldogs led from the time it was 5-4 until the Friars' Smith found Mike Ballard for a 3-pointer that tied it 51-51 with 5 minutes, 37 seconds to play.
Fenwick's Smith already had his fourth foul at that point, and while he stopped guarding the ball on defense, he continued to attack on the other end.
The savvy four-year varsity player with a possible Ivy League future got to the foul line 10 times in the fourth quarter, making eight. He was 12-for-12 from the line against Simeon.
R-B, meanwhile, shot 2-for-11 from the line in the fourth quarter.
"The refs only called one charge all game and R-B is not really known for taking charges, they block shots," Mike Smith said. "So I just kept going to the rim."
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
Player of the game: Mike Smith, Fenwick, 34 points, 6 rebounds
Key performers: Riverside-Brookfield -- Daniko Jackson, 14 points; Jalen Clanton, 14 points; Mark Smith, 12 points, 7 rebounds. Fenwick -- Mike Ballard, 15 points, 3 3-pointers.
