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How Fenwick handles last Friday’s loss will tell a lot about these Friars.

Luke Lattner’s back-to-back baskets two minutes into the third quarter gave the Friars a 22-point advantage over the Ramblers. The game seemed over.

Not so.

Loyola embarked on an epic comeback to beat Fenwick 52-50 in overtime for its eighth win in a row.

“I still think we are OK,” said Lattner, a senior guard who scored 12 points. “We are heading in the right direction, but our schedule doesn’t get any easier. We will keep chugging along.”

Fenwick coach John Quinn agreed with the three-year varsity veteran.

“You have to give a lot of credit to Loyola,” Quinn said. “I don’t think we coasted or relaxed. We were disappointed we didn’t match their determination.

“There are two ways this can go. But we will get back to work and move forward.”

Despite the defeat, Quinn said the Friars once again played good basketball in January. They finished 4-2 for the month and are 10-7 overall, 4-4 in the Catholic North. The signature win was the 64-52 victory over St. Ignatius on Jan. 4.

“We always play well in January,” the coach said. “It’s always a good month for us. It’s partly because athletes from other sports are rounding into shape. It’s partly because we play at Proviso West’s tournament, which always is a challenge and makes us better.”

Even when the Friars were sitting 5-5 after their fourth consecutive loss on Dec. 27, Lattner said the players never doubted themselves.

“We knew had potential from the beginning of the year,” he said. “We knew we could play with good teams and beat good teams. We had to put all the pieces together.”

Quinn said offense continues to be Fenwick’s weakness. It hurt the Friars in the second half Friday when they scored four points in the fourth quarter and none in OT until Lattner’s last-second shot.

“It’s been a problem,” said Quinn, whose club converted 3-of-6 free throws in the second half. “We don’t always get a good shot. We need to do a better job of passing, catching and getting the right shot. A flaw of ours has been being impatient on offense.”

Fenwick has a busy weekend at St. Laurence on Friday and at Holy Trinity on Saturday.