Nate Marshall is one of the top football recruits in the country. The 6-4, 265-pound Fenwick senior is a Sun-Times All-Area defensive lineman and has signed with Michigan.
So it was no surprise that Marshall was the best athlete on the court on Tuesday in Oak Park. It was a surprise that he was the best basketball player. Undefeated, No. 5 Mount Carmel featured three future Division I players.
“[Marshall] is special,” Friars coach David Fergerson said. “You see the way he moves."
Marshall’s teammates fed off his energy and enthusiasm, turning in an exceptional 16 minutes of defense in the first half to upset the Caravan 71-58.
Marshall is still finding his basketball legs. He didn’t start the game and came in and out in bursts.
“I’m about 75% there,” Marshall said. “I’m going to go in, play my hardest for three minutes and he’s going to sub me out.”
Marshall had 19 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Fenwick (8-1, 2-0 Catholic League Blue) forced Mount Carmel into 12 turnovers in the first half and led 31-17.
“We’ve lost to Mount Carmel the last three years, so this was a pretty personal game for us,” Marshall said. “[Two years ago at Fenwick] I missed a game-tying three. I kind of had a chip on my shoulder. And we brought it to them.”
The Caravan has one of the best backcourts in the state with seniors Grant Best and Cameron Thomas and junior Noah Mister. Fenwick overwhelmed Mount Carmel in the first half with waves of energetic, relentless defense.
“We lost by 25 to them last year and we were still thinking about that and using it as motivation on every defensive play,” Friars senior Ty Macariola said. “Diving for loose balls, boxing out. [Fergerson] told us just to get up and pressure and trust everyone on the team to give us help.”
Macariola scored 16 points and Dom Ducree added 11. Fenwick led by 20 points in the fourth quarter before the Caravan (7-1, 1-1) heated up from three-point range.
It was a total team effort on defense from the Friars. Kamren Hogan, Jack O’Leary, Deonte Meeks, Tommy Thies, Jake Thies, Jimmy Watts and Raphiel Stewart all hounded Mount Carmel.
“We have some dogs,” Fergerson said. “We have six or seven basketball guys and six or seven football guys. And those football guys play with a different level of intensity and tenacity. Kind of nasty a little bit. You have to do that when you play football or you’re going to get it handed to you. So bringing that to the basketball court is good for me, bad for the other team.”
Mister came alive in the third quarter, scoring 10 points. He finished with 21. Thomas added 24 points and 11 rebounds.
“That defense is part of our identity,” Fergerson said. “That’s what we do. We come out and try to play hard. We guarded really good in the first half. In the second half, things got away from us. They made some tough shots.”
