Until Kiki Sheard returns, Bailey Forde is the only senior seeing action for Fenwick’s girls basketball team.
But Forde, a 5-foot-4 guard, doesn’t play like an experienced senior and shows some indecision. While she played three years ago, she is in just her second season of basketball after taking the past two years off. Forde last played on the freshman team coached by Dale Heidloff.
Fenwick coach Dave Power said Forde has overcome a series of shin injuries that prevented her from playing as a sophomore and junior. During that time, she decided to focus on her studies rather than continue with basketball.
Forde decided to stage a comeback her senior year. She started in Fenwick’s 67-32 loss to defending Class 4A state champion Benet Saturday, Dec. 5, in the inaugural GCAC-East Suburban Catholic Challenge at St. Viator.
While Forde doesn’t have much experience, Fenwick (2-6) is happy to have her maturity. When Forde was on the bench, there were only three juniors on the floor with guards Chance Baggett and Mackenzie Berschel and forward Kelly Carpenter, who scored seven points.
Four Fenwick freshmen — Audrey Hetzer, Mary Kate Kapsch, Gianni Ortiz and Trish Delaney — combined to score eight points. Sophomore McKenzie Blaze led the Friars with nine points.
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“They come to me for help a lot,” Forde said of the freshmen. “That makes me feel good because then I feel that I’m not always the new girl.”
Sheard, Fenwick’s top returning scorer from last season, has yet to play while recovering from offseason surgery for a torn ACL in her knee, according to Power. He said she could possibly return in a week.
In the second half, Power began substituting all five players on the floor with five players off the bench just to get everyone playing time. The Redwings (7-1) led 54-25 to end the third quarter after Fenwick scored two points in the quarter on a pair of free throws.
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Fenwick’s 32 points was a season-low total. The Friars made only one basket in the first quarter, none in the third quarter and two in the fourth.
Without Sheard, the Friars have scored less than 40 points in three games.
“The team has strength, but we need to take better advantage of that,” Power said. “We didn’t shoot well enough. We need to mix it up better.”
Twitter @geomwilcox