Benbow, Kaspari named to all-tournament team.
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
The Fenton girls basketball team opened the season going 1-3 at the Addison Trail-Fenton tournament.
Fenton dropped a 58-49 game to Leyden and then defeated Elgin by a 68-61 count. The Bison lost 71-34 to Lane Tech and 62-44 to Addison Trail.
Senior Amari Benbow and junior Julia Kaspari were named to the all-tournament team. One day, these young talents might make the nation proud just as Team USA champions did.
“The girls really fought from the opening tip until the final horn like we expect them to,” said Fenton coach Dave Mello. “We also got out and ran the system the best that we could hope for after such limited time together.”
Mello, a longtime Fenton athletics coach and the school’s new girls basketball coach, was hired after this school year started and had limited time with his players prior to the start of preseason training.
“We need to keep working on everything,” he said. “We only had 10 practices after tryouts to prepare for the season. The girls did a great job adjusting to a new coaching staff that wasn’t in place until mid-September. We are now in a stretch where we have nine practices and only one game. This is a huge stretch for us.”
Mello was impressed with how the team reacted to the staff’s teachings. “I was most impressed with the way the girls were able to quickly pick up what we are installing and then go out and execute as well as they did,” he said.
Mello lauded the efforts of Kaspari and Alexis Arzola during the tournament. “Julia has a great understanding of what she needs to do and her shooting has been outstanding,” he said. “Alexis is playing inside for a team that doesn’t really operate its offense inside. She has put up consistent numbers by working hard down low.”
Also cited for strong play was Isa Lozada, who is no stranger to Mello. She is an all-state shortstop on Mello’s Fenton softball team. “Isa has proven she is also quite the basketball player,” the coach said. “She had an outstanding tournament.”
Fenton opened up Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division play earlier this week against Illiana Christian.
