‘Little things’ go a long way for Central Catholic forward Fenton

Central Catholic High School boys basketball coach Mike Wilson saw the potential in his 6-foot-5 senior, the one with long arms, incredible bounce and a rich bloodline.

He just needed Conor Fenton to see it, too.

Fenton was coming back from a broken ankle that hijacked most of his junior year. His right ankle snapped in three spots – “Left, right and middle,” he says – after sliding into a shot during the fall soccer season.

During one of the greatest playoff runs in program history, Fenton was often parked at the end of the bench. He played sparingly in the section and regional tournaments, and the downtime chipped away at his confidence.

“We knew he had the potential last year, but he was hobbled,” said Wilson, whose team captured the 2016 Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV basketball championship, the school’s first in nearly three decades, and reached the CIF NorCal Regional tournament semifinals.

“He really struggled with that, both mentally and physically. He was down and didn’t get to play much. This year, he showed glimpses of what he’s doing now early in the season.”

Fenton was named the Most Valuable Player at the Granada (Livermore) Holiday Invitational in December after averaging 12 points and five rebounds in four games, including a high-water mark of 19 points and 10 rebounds in a landslide victory over Burton in the final.

Just like that, Central Catholic was off and running, but Fenton was still finding his way on a team dominated by its veteran guard play. Jared Rice and Cooper Wilson are three-year varsity players, while Amrit Dhaliwal was instrumental in delivering the blue banner.

With his size, Fenton was asked to fill a need at forward. While the Raiders seemingly hummed along, Fenton was caught on a roller coaster, pushed and pulled along by sudden stops and surges of confidence.

He was held to nine points or fewer in six of the next seven games following the Granada tournament. On Jan. 3, in the Raiders’ Valley Oak League opener at Weston Ranch, Fenton never got off the bench in the second half.

“It was a different lineup back then with different roles,” Wilson said, alluding to the dismissal of starting point guard Josh Hamilton and reserve Dash Von Stade, “but (Fenton) would play well for a game or two and then disappear.”

Today, teams can’t avoid him. Fenton has been a catalyst in the school’s push for a second consecutive section title. In the last two months, he’s used his long, athletic frame to complement the abundance of smaller guards around him.

“He needed me to step up as a senior,” Fenton said. “He needed me to be more active and to get rebounds. I knew I had the capability to be more effective, and I needed to show him that.

“Wilson likes the little things. He says the little things win games, and I agree with that.”

Since the start of the calendar year, a stretch of 17 games, Fenton has pulled down a team-high 196 rebounds, an average of 11.5 per game. Nearly half of those rebounds – 88, to be exact – have come on the offensive glass.

Fenton’s rise on the low block, the way he attacks the basketball at its highest point, reminds Wilson of another Fenton. His older brother, John Fenton, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward, averaged 15.4 points, 15.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks during a four-year career from 2009-13. Conor Fenton used to keep his stats and study his process.

“His brother was a phenomenal rebounder, and Conor jumps to the ball with that same sense,” Wilson said. “A lot of jumpers, they jump and make their arms as long as they can to get to the ball. He jumps with his whole body, which helps.”

That skill set may be the one advantage the top-ranked Raiders (22-7) have on fourth-seeded Ripon (24-5) in Wednesday’s Division IV semifinal at Tokay High in Lodi.

Like Central Catholic, Ripon boasts a set of elite guards: seniors Aaron Paschini, Cole Stevens and Noah Hernandez, along with junior Kyle Sisk. The Indians will ask senior Anthony Sisk, 6-7 sophomore Vincent Olmo and junior James Gaalswyk to keep pace with Fenton, DaRon Bland and Malcolm Clayton, a small but versatile frontcourt.

“I want to be the guy who has taken us to places we’ve never been before,” Fenton said. “We have shooters and guards, but we were lacking on size and physicality. I’m going to try to keep doing that.”

Along with his ability to create second-chance points, Fenton has blossomed as another scoring option. He’s scored in double figures in 10 of the last 12 games, including nine straight at one point, and is shooting 54 percent.

He’s averaging 10 points, 10.1 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.1 steals with 10 double-doubles. Those numbers are a reflection of his attitude, not just his game.

“Usually when I’m playing, I tell myself, ‘If I leave with no regrets and play 100 percent, everything will fall into place,’ ” Fenton said. “No matter if I shoot poorly, if I play hard, things will come to me.”

With eyes the size of basketballs, Fenton is finally seeing what Wilson has seen in him all along. His potential drives his performance.

“The biggest thing to go with his success is his mental maturity. He’s learned to let some things roll off his back and focus on the game,” Wilson said. “To me, that’s the biggest part of his success. He’s always had the talent.”

This story was originally published February 28, 2017 at 10:46 AM with the headline "‘Little things’ go a long way for Central Catholic forward Fenton."