Fencor 1989s

Youth team on top KEV HUNTER , Staff Writer 07/08/2002 The Fencor’s 12-and-under girls basketball team‚ based in Fort Washington‚ joined an elite list Saturday. Defeating the Texas Express 73-61‚ the local team became only the sixth Mid-Atlantic squad to win an AAU National Championship. Fencor has sure earned the accomplishment‚ going 11-1 in the 10-day tournament. “It was a lot of fun. A lot of us thought that we would win it‚ and we did‚” said one of the team’s versatile performers‚ Michele Brokans of Ambler. “We thought that we could beat every team out there.” “It was totally amazing‚” Lansdale’s Megan Marcinkowski said. “It was so emotional – everyone was crying.” Until this weekend‚ there had been only five AAU Girls Basketball National Champions from the Mid-Atlantic AAU Region in the last 27 years – the Mid-Atlantic includes all of Central and Eastern Pennsylvania‚ South Jersey and Delaware. Fencor’s joins the 1997 Comets (12-and-under)‚ the 1993 Philadelphia Belles (16-and-under and 13-and-under)‚ the 1982 Hawks (12-and-under) and the 1979 Philadelphia Belles (18-and-under) as the only Mid-Atlantic teams to win the title. The Fencor girls – all born in 1989 – have never lost in Mid-Atlantic AAU competition in three years and finished third and fifth in the country at the AAU National Championships in 2000 and 2001. This year in Amarillo‚ the Fencor girls dominated their first three games against teams from Missouri‚ Roanoke and D.C. to advance to the 64-team championship double-elimination final. Fencor then defeated Fairfax (Va.)‚ Baton Rouge (La.) and Monterey (Cal.) along the way to the winner’s bracket semi-finals‚ where the locals lost to the Texas Express (67-63) to drop into the loser’s bracket. The spot in the loser’s bracket forced Fencor to win three games Friday against West Virginia (57-53)‚ Kentucky (47-30) and Tulsa (51-45) in order to earn a rematch against the Texas Express. The rematch‚ Fencor knew‚ would be different than the first matchup. “We made a lot more of our shots‚ and we played really good defense‚” said Brokans‚ a 13-year-old who is going into eighth grade this fall. “We all stepped it up when it counted.” The first championship game saw Fencor fall behind by eight at halftime but battle back to take the lead with five minutes left in the back-and-forth struggle. Fencor was again behind 50-48 when the team’s Most Valuable Player‚ Elena Delle Donne (Wilmington‚ Del.) drove to the basket and was fouled with one second left. Delle Donne sank both free throw to force overtime. Using those baskets as a turning point‚ Fencor ran off the first seven points in overtime to win 62-55 and force a second championship game – it was Texas’ first loss. The second game was much easier for Fencor – Texas had some players stand out but Fencor was more deep in earning the 71-64 victory. Fencor’s roster also includes Caroline Doty (Collegeville)‚ Erin Edwards (Willow Grove)‚ Shannon Ferguson (Fort Washington)‚ Colleen Magarity (Oreland)‚ Cristine Matera (Morristown‚ NJ)‚ Megan Marcinkowski (Montgomeryville)‚ Shannon O’Hanlon (Wilmington‚ Del)‚ Kathryn Stockbower (Fort Washington)‚ and Rose Marie Tarnowski (Southampton). The Fencor coaches are Keith Webster‚ who is also the Germantown Friends High School girls coach‚ Stuart London‚ Keith Gwynn and Missy Pentina. All of those players and coaches now belong to an elite group. “It feels really good‚” Brokans said. “We are all really proud of ourselves and our coaches.” ©Reporter online.com 2002