OPRF 56
Fenwick 44
The Oak Park and River Forest boys basketball team didn’t get anything like the Little Brown Jug, a Wooden Turtle or Paul Bunyan’s Axe, which are awarded to the winners of some of sports’ greatest rivalries. And although no championship belt was raised in the air either, the Huskies still managed to maintain bragging rights and do everything but steal Fenwick’s mascot during a scintillating 56-44 win on Thursday at OPRF’s field house.
To borrow a line from The Godfather, the Huskies (9-4) and Friars (4-3) apparently made an offer the community could not refuse based on an estimated overflowing crowd of 2,500 spectators.
With the score knotted at 2-2 a few minutes into the highly anticipated clash, OPRF closed the first quarter with a 13-5 spurt and never looked back en route to their non-conference victory.
Cleary dialed in for the special showdown, OPRF star guard Iman Shumpert played an excellent all-around game with 19 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals.
“A lot of people expect me to go for like 30 or 40 points,” Shumpert said. “I feel like if I start doing that it throws off the team chemistry. I play to win; I don’t play to impress anybody.”
While Shumpert’s athleticism on the court can be breathtaking to watch, the Huskies have reeled off four wins in a row thanks largely to the contributions of many players and improved team defense.
Dan Barnes scored 19 points while Adam Taylor (8 points, 7 rebounds) and Clarke Cuthbert (6 points, 5 rebounds) helped OPRF win the rebounding battle (29-14) and cause 16 Fenwick turnovers.
“We turned it over a couple times early in the game and we were too tentative staring at the defense,” said Fenwick coach John Quinn. “In the second half, we did a better job offensively and some things opened up for us. Down the stretch, when we needed to get some big-time stops, we just couldn’t keep them off the glass.”
Trailing throughout the game, the Friars made a push in the fourth quarter on a basket and two free throws by Xavier Humphrey (11 points) that whittled the OPRF lead to 43-37 with 4:11 remaining.
However, the Friars’ Derek Tartt fouled out with less than three minutes remaining. With a defensive ace and leader like Tartt on the bench, OPRF took advantage as Barnes made nine consecutive free throws to clinch the victory.
“It was really nice that Derek had three fouls [before the half],” OPRF coach Al Allen said. “That’s the best Christmas present a man could ever get. Derek is a great player. We’ve been playing better defense. Our kids basically had to coach themselves on the floor [tonight] because you couldn’t hear anything.”
Six-foot-6 senior John Comfort led the Friars with 14 points and Tartt added eight points.
With both teams slated to appear at premier holiday tournaments, the neighborhood battle offered a unique tune-up before a tough stretch of upcoming games.
“We expected a great atmosphere, but I was surprised at how many of our fans showed up,” said Fenwick center Matt Condron. “Oak Park is a very good team, but we felt we weren’t aggressive enough.”