OPRF Boys' Basketball Opens Playoffs with Rout of Jones Prep

The Oak Park and River Forest Huskies cruised to a 76-47 rout of Jones College Prep on Wednesday in the first round of the boys’ basketball playoffs. However, a much stiffer test awaits them Friday evening—the Class 4A Regional playoff final against host Riverside-Brookfield.

Seeded sixth with a 15-10 record entering the game, OPRF took a 37-28 lead into halftime against Jones, the 12th seed with a 13-16 record. The Huskies then held the Eagles to four points in the third quarter to make it a 55-32 blowout entering the final frame.

Sam Lewis, a 6-foot-6 junior whose had a rollercoaster offensive season, scored 17 to pace a balanced Huskies attack. Three others scored in double figures: Justin Mullins tallied 15, Christian Marshall added 13, including eight in a third quarter in which he drove to the basket at will, and Rodney Murphy netted 11.

For the Eagles, Ethan Samuels, a sophomore guard, scored a game-high 20 points. His long-range shooting—upwards of 25 feet away from the basket—cooled in the second half, as did that of his teammates.

OPRF Coach Phil Gary lauded the team for its aggressiveness in the second half.

“We started playing really good defense and got out in transition, and that’s what brought the lead out from nine to 20, 25, and we kept going,” said Gary.

Lewis, normally a starter whose recent game-by-game scoring output has ranged from four to 30 points, sat for the contest’s first four minutes. In his place was the 6-foot-3 Murphy, a junior who created numerous second-chance possessions with his hustle on the offensive glass.

After checking in to the game, Lewis wasted little time asserting himself, scoring 10 of OPRF’s next 14 points. It began with a serpentine coast-to-coast drive that resulted in an old-fashioned three-point play.

After OPRF took a 20-15 lead after the first period, Lewis opened second-quarter scoring when the Eagles didn’t respect his outside range and he popped a long-distance three from near the right wing.

“When Sam is aggressive, I think we are a way better team,” said Gary. “Him coming off the bench today might have woken him up a little bit.”

Marshall had little trouble penetrating to the basket in the third period, and likewise displayed an aggressiveness that pleased his coach. Helping fuel OPRF early was the passing of senior guard Roscoe Cadwell. He followed an alley-oop to Mullins—the Huskies’ leading scorer at 23 points per game—with a kick-out to Murphy for a corner three-pointer to make it 9-3 about 2 ½ minutes in.

The triumph was OPRF’s seventh in eight games, the sole loss coming at the hands of Glenbard West, their West Suburban Silver Conference rival and the top-ranked team in Illinois.

In the evening’s first game, #4 seed Riverside-Brookfield defeated #13 seed Proviso West, 83-66, to boost their record to 22-5. In an early-season game on November 26th, R-B beat OPRF, 73-66. Their game on Friday tips off at 7 p.m. The winner advances to the Sectional Semifinal contest on Tuesday, March 1st at Proviso West.