Rave reviews: Zavier Fitch earns starting role as varsity rookie, plays big inside for Brother Rice. ‘He’s a force for us.’

The idea of a first-year varsity player cracking the starting lineup of a veteran Brother Rice team filled with returning standouts seemed like a major long shot before the season.

Junior forward Zavier Fitch, though, never doubted he could do it.

“I just knew if I could play strong and play how I play, I could play whenever,” Fitch said. “I could start.

“I think I add a lot of toughness and size and finishing that we need. I add rebounding, too.”

The 6-foot-7 Fitch has carved out a major role for himself, giving the Crusaders (9-1) a big lift inside.

“Zavier’s getting better every day,” Brother Rice first-year coach Conte Stamas said. “He’s a force for us inside. He’s a good rebounder. He did a good job defending St. Rita’s big guys.

“He’s playing well on both ends for us and filling a big hole, giving us something that maybe they didn’t have last year in terms of someone with his size.”

Fitch enjoyed the challenge of battling inside Friday with St. Rita’s 6-foot-10 superstars James Brown and Morez Johnson in a 57-51 loss. He scored seven points.

“It was wild, but I just tried to stay tough and not scared,” Fitch said. “It was a fun game to play in and it was fun to go against those guys.”

Fitch also scored eight points and was huge defensively Sunday for Brother Rice in a 50-46 win over Bloom in the Team Rose Shootout at Mount Carmel.

He takes pride in frustrating opponents with tough defense.

“I work a lot on defense,” Fitch said. “That’s the main thing for me. My length and aggressiveness make me tough defensively.”

With the addition of Fitch, senior forward Khalil Ross is thankful to not be the only big man in the Crusaders’ lineup.

“Zavier rebounds, he defends, he finishes well inside,” Ross said. “He’s been a big contributor on offense and defense. He helps me out a lot.

“Sometimes, I’m out on the perimeter and I can’t get back inside. I know he’s going to pick it back up.”

Basketball has always been Fitch’s sport. It’s in the family.

His father, Steve, played at Illinois State and professionally overseas. His older sister, Isis, starred at Andrew and Homewood-Flossmoor and now plays in college at Bradley.

“I grew up going to all her AAU tournaments all over the country,” Zavier Fitch said of Isis. “I learned how to work hard and to always be in the gym getting shots up.”

Spartan strength: Marian Catholic (7-2) has played in several tight games. The Spartans beat Homewood-Flossmoor in overtime, came up short in a three-point loss to St. Viator last week and held off Evanston in a physical battle Sunday.

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Senior guard Quentin Jones, a Cal Poly recruit, thinks his team has learned a lot already.

“Finishing is a big thing,” he said. “We’ve got to be able to handle pressure at the end of the games and take care of the ball. We’ve done good with that, but we’ve got to get better because we know in the postseason, it’s going to get harder.”

Jones, who is averaging 15 points and 7.5 rebounds, wants to be the one his teammates can depend on in crunchtime.

“Over the summer, I put in a lot of hours, going in the gym, shooting, being there with the team and leading every day,” he said. “I just prepared myself for the season to be ready to lead this team.”

Buzzer beater: Junior forward Eli Bach had a moment to remember Friday night as his shot at the buzzer hit the rim, bounced high off the glass and fell back in to give Lincoln-Way West a 69-67 overtime win over Homewood-Flossmoor.

Senior guard Tyler Gabriel scored 28 points to lead the Warriors (4-4), who have a big home game Friday night against district rival Lincoln-Way East.

Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.