Dec. 30--They were as similar as they were different, at least in terms of being evenly matched.
No. 3 Fenwick and No. 9 Bogan traded blows for four quarters and two overtimes, and it ultimately came down to a free-throw shooting contest.
Mike Smith and Mike Ballard are good at those, and they led Fenwick to a 60-57 win Tuesday night in the semifinals of the Proviso West Holiday Tournament in Hillside.
Smith made 8 of 10 foul shots in the fourth quarter and overtimes, and Ballard hit two in the final seconds of the second OT to help the Friars shake off a heroic 3-pointer by Bogan's James Jones in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
Fenwick (11-0), which trailed for much of regulation, will play No. 1 Morgan Park for the championship of the prestigious tournament at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
"It was a crazy game," said Ballard, who scored 23 points. "Coach (Rick) Malnati has been saying all year he wants us to get our butts kicked one time. He said it would set us into place, make us want to play harder. I guess this was kind of that. We were down the whole game and we battled hard and came back."
Led by Jones (19 points), a Buffalo recruit, Bogan (9-3) led by five at halftime and opened the third quarter with an 8-2 run to take a 34-23 lead.
The Friars finally drew even at 46-46 on a pair of free throws by Smith with 3 minutes, 23 seconds left. Smith (21 points) hit two more to make it 52-49 and set the stage for a man-in-his-face 3 by Jones to force overtime.
"James Jones is one of my best friends," Ballard said. "I've watched a lot of their games. We knew they were super athletic and were going to run all over the court and get out in transition.
"They missed a couple clutch free throws, I feel like we made ours and that was probably the difference in the game."
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
Player of the game: Mike Smith, Fenwick, 21 points, 8-10 FTs, 3 steals.
Key performers: Bogan -- James Jones, 19 points, 9 rebounds, 4 3-pointers; Bryce Barnes, 13 points, 5 steals. Fenwick -- Mike Ballard, 23 points, 3 3-pointers.
