Lincoln Park 55
OPRF 47
Fifteen turnovers in the first half against Lincoln Park didn’t help things for the OPRF boys basketball team as the Huskies fell 55-47 in non-conference action on Saturday in Oak Park.
The Huskies (11-10) took care of the ball better in the second half and even outscored the Lions in both the third and fourth quarters, but couldn’t make up for the slow start. OPRF trailed 32-16 at halftime.
Andrew Godbold led the Huskies with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Jeff Dirkin, who helped hold Lincoln Park’s big man Mike Gabriel – a 6-foot-8 center – scoreless, finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
“Lincoln Park is a real good team and we just got down early and couldn’t dig our way out of the mess,” said OPRF head coach Matt Maloney. “Now we have to turn our focus to preparing for a tough weekend of back-to-back conference games.”
DeMarko Nash led Lincoln Park with 11 points, while Cory Proctor added 10, all of which came in the fourth quarter.
The Huskies take on Hinsdale Central and Proviso West, who both sit atop the West Suburban (Silver) Conference with 6-2 records. OPRF, who lost to both teams earlier in the season, travel to Hinsdale Central on Friday and host the Panthers on Saturday. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m.
“Hinsdale Central and Proviso West have contrasting styles of play, so we need to prepare this week as if it’s the playoffs,” said Maloney of his Huskies, who lost to the Red Devils by five last month. “We need to win both games to stay in the hunt for the conference title.”
