Fencor 1989s

Note: click on headline for team picture Fencor wins national AAU championship 07/10/2002 Winning five games in 30 hours against the top teams in the country, the Fencor "A" girls basketball team captured the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) 12-and-under national championship, held June 28 to July 6 in Amarillo, Texas. Fencor is the sixth team from the Middle Atlantic Association to ever win a national basketball championship in any age group. The previous was the Delaware County Comets when they won the 12's five years ago. Fencor's roster includes: Caroline Doty, Elena Delle Donne, Erin Edwards, Shannon Ferguson, Colleen Magarity, Christine Matera, Megan Marcinkowski, Shannon O'Hanlon, Kathryn Stockbower, Rosie Tarnowski and Michele Brokans. The coaches are Keith Webster, Stuart London, Keith Gwynn and Missy Pentima. The road to the championship contained many challenges for the gritty Fencor squad. After going 3-0 in pool play, Fencor advanced to the 34-team double-elimination championship round. In its opener, Fencor trailed the Fairfax Stars by five points with two minutes to go. Doty, who had sat on the bench most of the second half with four fouls, came into the game and hit two 3-pointers, the final one with six seconds left, to give Fencor a 60-57 heart-thumping victory. After easily handling Baton Rouge (62-37) and the No. 3 seeded Monterey Park Heat (57-42), Fencor went up against a tall, extremely athletic Texas Express squad that boasted a 56-2 record on the season going into the game. Texas got on top early, 14-2, and held on for a 67-63 victory. This loss put Fencor in the loser's bracket. They would have to win three games in one day just to get another chance at Texas. Fencor accomplished the feat with victories over the West Virginia Thunder (57-53), the Central Kentucky Angels (47-30) and the Tulsa Swoosh (51-45), ending a 13-hour odyssey for the team. When Saturday dawned, only two teams were left, Fencor and the Texas Express, and Fencor would have to beat them twice to win it all. In the first game , Fencor held the lead most of the game but Texas rallied and held a 50-48 lead when Fencor got the ball back with eight seconds left. Delle Donne was fouled with .1 of a second remaining and she drained both free throws to send the game into overtime, where Fencor triumphed, 62-55. This set up the rubber match between Fencor and Texas Express for all the marbles. The game was almost never in doubt. Delle Donne poured in an amazing 37 points, center Shannon O'Hanlon and guard Christine Matera each scored 12 points and guard Caroline Doty had 10 points as Fencor held as much as a 17-point lead in the second half en route to a 71-64 victory. Although this was the first time they won the title, the team had been close in the past, coming in fifth last year as 11's and third as 10's. Fencor finished with a 10-1 record in the tournament and is now 35-7 on the season. ©News Gleaner 2002