The rivalry between Catholic girls schools Fenwick and Trinity has seen better days.
Trinity, in River Forest, has dominated recent meetings while its neighbor two miles away in Oak Park rebuilds.
The rivalry entered a new era Thursday, Jan. 7, as the Blazers, ranked No. 8 by the Tribune, and Friars met for the first time as Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red opponents. Fenwick left its longtime home in the East Suburban Catholic following last season.
In the Blazers’ 71-54 win in River Forest, it was apparent that both teams are hinging their futures around a group of talented sophomores,
“With young girls, you have really highs and really lows,” said Trinity first-year coach Mike Valente, a former assistant under Fenwick coach Dave Power. “As they get older, they even out. Sometimes they are fantastic.”
With two Fenwick starters out with injuries — Bailey Forde (back) and McKenzie Blaze (right foot), the Friars (4-14, 2-3) inserted a pair of sophomores into the starting lineup. Kate Moore scored 20 points and classmate Chance Baggett added 17 to lead the visitors, who were outscored 42-22 in the second and third quarters.
Moore was coming off a career-high 23 points in Fenwick’s 58-50 victory over St. Ignatius Jan. 5.
The Friars are on pace to finish with their third consecutive losing season for the first time in school history.
“We lost a lot of girls from last year,” said Moore, a Western Springs resident. “We have not played much together, but we’re playing as a team now.”
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With Kiki Sheard as the only senior starter, Fenwick’s bench featured sophomores Charlotte Quinn and Margaret Planek and freshmen Mary Kate Kapsch and Gianni Ortiz.
“We’re a young team with a lot of inexperience,” Moore said. “It’s hard, but sometimes it looks like the future is good.”
Senior Kaitlin Aylward led Trinity (13-4, 3-1) with 18 points and guard Daliyah Brown — one of three starting sophomores for the Blazers — had 11. Sophomores Alisa Fallon and Lauren Lee combined for nine points.
Game notes
*Another young player, Trinity freshman reserve guard Annie Stritzel, scored 17 points, with three 3-pointers.
“Annie Stritzel had a phenomenal game, in the second half especially (with 13 points),” Valente said.
*Lee, a River Forest resident, played at Roosevelt Middle School and was a travel teammate with Fenwick junior guard Mackenzie Berschel. Lee admitted that she waffled between which school to attend out of eighth grade.
“Trinity was not always my first choice,” she said. “I did think about (Fenwick). But I’m super-excited and happy to be playing (at Trinity).”
*The last time Fenwick had fewer than 10 wins was when the team went 6-18 in its second season in 1994.
Twitter @geomwilcox