Fenwick steals the show against Taft

Sparked by some pressure defense and easy transition baskets, Fenwick breezed to a comfortable 82-28 win over Taft on Saturday in its second game of the Niles North Thanksgiving Tournament.

Tha Friars (2-0) started quickly, rushing out to leads of 16-2 and 33-4 before the first quarter had even finished. Fenwick’s full court press forced 18 Taft turnovers in the first quarter, including 13 steals, five of which came from Maya Garland. Jade Owens and Jenny Mackowiak added two steals apiece in the period.

“These games are good for us because we get to iron out some things we may be having problems with,’’ said Owens, who finished with 13 points in the first quarter.’’ “We got to practice our sets and see who plays well together. It’s good for forming how our team is going to be.’’

Fenwick coach Dave Power put the brakes on the press after the Friars ran out out to a 35-5 lead after the first period.

With the game out of hand, the Friars used the game as a chance to get all their players playing time, as Power rotated five new players in every couple of minutes.

Despite backing off their press, the Friars still caused havoc for Taft, creating turnovers and forcing the Eagles into bad shots. Fenwick held Taft (2-1) to just seven baskets in the second half.

After forcing 18 turnovers in the first period, Fenwick forced 23 more the rest of the way for a total of 41 on the night. Garland finished with eight steals.

Owens scored a game-high 21 points, while Marie Chew scored 10 to lead Taft.