Taking a look at the Oak Park and River Forest High School boys basketball team’s record of 8-16 (3-9 in West Suburban Silver), it would be easy to dismiss their postseason chances.
But a closer look shows that the Huskies were competitive for the most part, as six of the losses were by four points or less, while a seventh loss came in overtime.
“We just weren’t able to get consistent play this season,” said OPRF coach Phil Gary. “We had a lot of close games that we couldn’t finish down the stretch.”
Still, Gary is optimistic about OPRF’s chances in this year’s IHSA Class 4A tournament. The Huskies, who host a regional, are seeded 12th in the Maine South sectional.
“We’re starting to trend up,” Gary said. “In our last game at York (69-65 loss on Feb. 13), we had one bad quarter, the third. But we played well the other three quarters.”
While he doesn’t necessarily guarantee two victories, Gary sees OPRF starting the postseason at home as a plus.
“I think we’ll have a nice crowd for that first game,” he said. “We’ve had some really good practices lately, and if we stick to the game plan against Niles North, I think we have a good shot of beating them.”
OPRF’s regional opener is Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Should the Huskies prevail, either New Trier or Taft await in the regional title game, Feb. 23.
“Niles North is a team that can score and shoots lots of threes,” Gary said. “We will need to focus on the defensive end more and have a low turnover amount in order to shock teams.”
Fenwick
Fenwick made David Fergerson’s head coaching debut a solid one, finishing the regular season with a 16-10 record (3-5 in the Chicago Catholic League Blue).
“We’re feeling pretty good,” Fergerson said. “We’ve been having some good days in practice, and we should have enough rest and be ready.”
Fenwick is seeded third in the Class 3A sectional it is hosting this year. The Friars open postseason play, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m., in the regional semifinal at Little Village in Chicago against either Intrinsic Charter or Schurz. Assuming a victory, Fenwick would meet either Little Village or Bulls Prep for the regional title, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.
While the Friars are favored to win the regional, Fergerson isn’t taking anything for granted.
“We’ve got to take care of business this week,” he said.
Fenwick displays offensive balance, as Dominick Ducree, Kam Hogan, Ty Macariola, and Nate Marshall are all capable of scoring in double figures every game.