Mullins & Lewis explode for 66 in Huskies' win over Proviso West

It’s relatively rare for a high school basketball player to score 30 points. But for a pair of teammates to do so? Virtually unheard of, which makes what transpired on Friday evening at Oak Park and River Forest High School a remarkably rare occasion.

Justin Mullins and Sam Lewis both cracked the milestone in the OPRF Huskies’ 91-75 triumph over the Proviso West Panthers. Mullins, a 6-foot-5 senior, tallied 36 points, while Lewis, a 6-foot-6 junior, poured in 30.

At times, they literally took turns with their offensive onslaught in a fast-paced affair against their division's last-place team. The Huskies were, by turns, sloppy and sensational. The net effect was that the game stayed somewhat close—despite a 23-point OPRF halftime lead.

Certainly, Huskie teammates--such as Oscar Johnson, Christian Marshall and Roscoe Cadwell--were instrumental in setting up Mullins and Lewis on a variety of their scores. But the Panthers indirectly earned an assist in the duo’s rare feat: if the game had become a blowout, it’s very unlikely OPRF Coach Phil Gary would have kept Mullins and Lewis on the court so long.

It was OPRF's second win over Proviso West this season, following a 79-63 win at Proviso West in December. With their fourth consecutive victory, the Huskies boosted their record to 13-9, 6-3 in the West Suburban-Silver Conference standings. Proviso West dropped to 4-10, 0-6 in WSC-Silver.

A quarter-by-quarter review of how it played out:

1st Quarter: OPRF 19, Proviso West 12

With 2: 31 left in the period, Lewis pulled up on the break and nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 17-8, OPRF. It was his fifth basket, and third three-pointer, to give him a lightning-fast 13 points.

The hot start for Lewis contrasted to his prior outing, when he scored only seven points in the Huskies’ 65-63 defeat of Lyons Township on February 1st.

With 35 seconds left, Mullins dropped in a driving scoop shot for his second basket. Having scored a game-high 24 points in OPRF’s win over Lyons, Mullins appeared to be on his way to a relatively modest offensive night.

Halftime: OPRF 49, Proviso West 26

A spate of Panther turnovers caused by OPRF’s pressure defense keyed a 17-2 Huskies spurt, for a 36-14 advantage with 3:19 remaining. Early on, Mullins made three baskets in a 53-second span—a pair of full-court drives that resulted in a layup and a dunk, then another layup.

Keaghan Elmiger’s put-back and Raimon Yarbrough’s three-pointer were part of the OPRF run. From there, the action see-sawed back and forth, as Proviso West started to make shots with consistency.

Mullins scored OPRF’s final seven points, including three free throws, over a 72-second span. For the period, he outscored the Panthers, 17-14, and he finished the half with 21 points. Lewis added five points in the frame, giving him 18 at intermission.

After 3 Quarters: OPRF 64 Proviso West 51

The Panthers outscored the Huskies, 25-15, upping the pace from fast to turbo-charged and capitalizing on a series of errant OPRF passes.

Cadwell scored all seven of his points in this period, including a corner three on the Huskies’ first possession that nicked every part of the rim before dropping in. When Cadwell scored again, on a layup three minutes later, it snapped a 10-point Proviso West run.

The Panthers later cut the margin to 54-44, before Mullins swished a three from the left wing and Cadwell hit a breakaway layup to provide breathing room.

Entering the fourth quarter, Mullins had 24 points and Lewis, who made one layup in the third, was up to 20.

Fourth Quarter: OPRF 91, Proviso West 75

Here’s when the offensive floodgates opened for both teams, with the Huskies 27 points nearly mirrored by the Panthers’ 24. Very much in the mix were Mullins (12 points) and Lewis (10 points).

Reminiscent of how he closed out the first half, Mullins scored the Huskies’ first seven points of the period. Next, Lewis dropped in the squad’s next seven. At that point, OPRF was ahead, 78-65, with three minutes left. But the Panthers kept clawing away, scoring the next five points to draw within eight.

With 1:47 left, Mullins took over with a driving dunk. Following a Proviso West bucket to make it 80-72, the Huskies pulled away by scoring 11 of the game’s final 14 points. That closing OPRF push included a Lewis layup on a feed from Max Murray, which brought Lewis to the 30-point mark, and two layups in the final four seconds. One was an Owen Detmer basket off a teammate’s missed free throw.

Next for the Huskies: at Glenbard West, on Friday, February 11th. The Hilltoppers are the state's top-ranked team, and easily handled OPRF earlier this season, 64-40.