Levin, OPRF boys basketball team lights it up against Lyons Township

Senior tallies double-double of 21 points, 10 rebounds

Saturday, February 11th, 2012 7:32 PM

Updated: Tuesday, February 14th, 2012 11:50 AM

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No mercy: OPRF senior forward Gabe Levin was unstoppable against Lyons Township on Saturday afternoon. Levin had three monstrous dunks in the Huskies win.

Chain reaction: OPRF players react after teammate Gabe Levin throws down one of his three dunks in Saturday's game.

Photos By J.Geil

Photo Editor

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By Marty Farmer

Contributing Reporter

After Saturday afternoon's emphatic 58-35 win for the OPRF boys basketball team over Lyons Township, Huskies 6-foot-7 star center Gabe Levin was besieged with autograph requests from kids, high fives from classmates, and he even conducted an interview with Comcast which televised the game as its "Game of the Week."

The unassuming big man, who scored nine of the Huskies' first 11 points and threw down three thunderous dunks in the game, took the spotlight in stride.

"It really wasn't me," Levin said about the dunk show. "Give credit to Jakari [Cammon], Ka'Darryl [Bell] and A.G. [Alex Gustafson]. They all set me up with great passes. [Today] was amazing because everybody contributed, and we got to play our seniors."

Before tip-off, the Huskies (16-5, 8-2) honored their seniors Alex Nesnidal, Dan Kemper, Sheldon Knox, Marek Sorenson, Levin and Bell.

"It's great to be graduating from OPRF and I love playing [here]," Nesnidal said. "I think the key for us against LT was our defense which fed into our offense. In the second half, we got our offense really going and Gabe was just killing it all day."

In their first meeting (Jan. 13), the Lions beat the Huskies 65-53 in La Grange. LT senior guard Kenny Smith, who was held to just two points on Saturday, exploded for a career-high 28 points in the Lions' earlier win over OPRF.

"We wanted revenge," Nesnidal said. "Every time we play LT it's always a good game, a great rivalry. We were ready for them this time."

After Saturday's pre-game festivities, Levin set the tone early by sinking four baskets during the Huskies' opening 11-5 surge, finished off with Levin's weakside alley-oop jam off a Cammon feed. OPRF extended its lead to 16-7 before the Lions' Matt Robare canned a three-pointer at the end of the first quarter to make the score 16-10.

Up 28-16 at the half, OPRF extended its advantage to 34-18 midway through the third quarter capped off by a Cammon trey. LT responded with a 9-0 spurt to draw within 34-27 at the 1:26 mark of the quarter. Jarryd Heath, who scored all nine of his points in the second half, fueled the Lions' run with a pair of buckets along with a three-pointer from Robare (11 points). Junior Chris O'Reilly chipped in seven points for LT.

In the fourth quarter, the Huskies put the game away by outscoring LT 20-8, which was highlighted by a pair of two-handed jams by Levin and a three-pointer from Gustafson that made the score 48-28 with 6:20 remaining.

In support of Levin's game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds, 6-7 junior center TK Mattox recorded a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, while the Bradley-bound Bell chipped in 10 points.

"Gabe has been our most consistent player the entire year," OPRF coach Matt Maloney said. "I thought Tacourrus (TK) also was phenomenal. He was all over the glass and played great defensively. This was his best all-around game this season."

With a victory at York on Tuesday night (after deadline), the Huskies would clinch sole possession of the conference title. They travel to Glenbard West on Friday.

J. GEIL/Photo Editor | Buy this picture at WednesdayJournalOnline.MyCapture.com

J. GEIL/Photo Editor | Buy this picture at WednesdayJournalOnline.MyCapture.com