During its 48-40 West Suburban (Silver) Conference win over York at the Field House in Oak Park on Saturday, the OPRF boys basketball team showed sometimes its better to be lucky than good.
Despite poor shooting (12-of-37 field goals), too many turnovers (17) and being out rebounded by York (27-24), the Huskies pulled out a victory thanks to tough team defense and clutch freethrow shooting from guard Phil Gary.
“I thought we were lucky to win the game,” said OPRF coach Al Allen. “It was one of our worse games of the year. We were able to pressure them and play some good defense, but we did not create enough turnovers, or rebound well.”
Off to a fast 6-1 start, including their “Pack the Place” conference opening win against rival York, the Huskies have established a promising early season scenario. OPRF is winning games, and yet Allen knows there is always room for improvement.
“This game was really ‘The Phil Gary Show’,” said Allen about the win over York. “He bailed us out by making free throws.”
In the fourth quarter, OPRF (6-1, 1-0) scored its final 16 points on free throw attempts. Gary led the parade to the charity stripe converting 8-of-10 attempts, but his teammates made only 8 out of 14 free throws.
In the first quarter, Jamis Nelson (10 points, eight rebounds) ignited the home crowd with a thunderous dunk which helped propel OPRF to a 24-17 lead at the intermission. To complicate matters for York, their 6-foot-8 star center Steven Crane was saddled with foul trouble for most of the first half. Crane, who is averaging 12 points per game this season and will play at Lewis University next year, finished with two points for the game.
York (5-1, 0-1) went on a 12-2 run late in the third quarter to take the lead 29-28. However, Nelson responded with a bucket to give the Huskies a 30-29 advantage entering the final quarter.
In the final stanza, the Huskies made one field goal along with their 16 free throws and held York scoreless during a critical six-minute span.
While juniors Iman Schumpert and Daniel Barnes did not play particularly well according to Allen, the Huskies’ talented tandem still managed 10 and nine points, respectively. Joe Acosta (16 points) and Eric Nikchevich (11 points, 5 rebounds) led the Dukes’ attack.
Last season, York and OPRF swapped victories on each other’s home court. Slated as two of the conference favorites once again this year, the Huskies’ win against the defending conference champs served as an example of what’s to come in a heated conference race.
The Huskies travel to Downers Grove North Friday night and St. Charles North Saturday night.
“Downers Grove North is a team that traditionally comes out and plays very physical basketball,” Allen said. “When we play there, strange things sometimes happen. Anything can happen again this time around as well.”
The Huskies, averaging 68 points before the York game, hope to amp up their offense again with three of their next four games on the road.
“We need to defend and rebound so we can run,” Allen said.