Oak Forest’s size advantage too much for Oak Lawn

The Oak Lawn/Oak Forest rivalry is usually important only to the two schools. The basketball programs don’t have much historical cache in the area.

Bengals senior Jayson Kent remembers all the years when no one outside the south suburbs cared about the game, so he is relishing the current spotlight. Despite a gaudy record in January, Oak Forest needed a signature victory to prove itself.

‘‘We had so much energy in practice that I knew it was going to carry over to the game,’’ Kent said. ‘‘I just knew we were going to win, and I knew I would play well.’’

Kent played well, even though he was wearing a plastic facemask to protect his broken nose. The mask has troubled players at every level of basketball.

‘‘I figured out the trick,’’ Kent said.

He certainly did. Kent dominated the first half and finished with 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the host Bengals to a 70-54 victory Friday against No. 25 Oak Lawn.

Robbie Avila put on another smooth show for the Bengals. The 6-9 sophomore is one of the most highly regarded prospects in the state and filled the stat sheet with 23 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Avila shot 7-for-10.

‘‘In the first half Jayson was on fire, and I let him get the ball because I knew we needed him,’’ Avila said. ‘‘In the second half my teammates were getting me the ball. I hit shots, and it felt good.’’

Oak Forest (15-1) led 31-17 at halftime.

‘‘They are such a smart and such a good passing team that 14 points is like 28 points against someone else,’’ Spartans coach Jason Rhodes said.

The Bengals had a significant size advantage and used it well, winning the rebounding battle 27-17. At one point early in the third quarter, Oak Lawn had only seven total rebounds.

1 of 10

2 of 10

3 of 10

4 of 10

Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

5 of 10

6 of 10

7 of 10

8 of 10

9 of 10

Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

10 of 10

‘‘Our length was the key to the game,’’ Oak Forest coach Matt Manzke said. ‘‘That would be our advantage, whether it was rebounding or defending the perimeter and making them take extra passes.’’

Sami Osmani finished with 25 points and five rebounds for the Spartans (14-3). He scored 18 points in the second half despite foul trouble.

Bengals senior Juan Avila guarded Osmani.

‘‘Juan just takes the challenge,’’ Manzke said. ‘‘We did send some help, but it was mostly Juan. We knew [Osmani] was going to get his points, but the question was whether they would be easy or hard-fought. Obviously, they were hard-fought.’’

Kent said he has been playing against Osmani since middle school. When the two entered their respective high schools, both programs were afterthoughts. They’ve changed that.

‘‘It’s been a great experience,’’ Kent said. ‘‘And it is amazing to go out with a win against them. [Osmani] is a really tough competitor. It can get annoying sometimes, but he’s a great player. He can impact the game in big ways, so we tried to stop him early.’’

Juan Avila and Devin Tolbert each added 12 points for Oak Forest.

‘‘It’s a tough matchup for us size-wise,’’ Rhodes said. ‘‘But [Oak Forest] played great. They had four guys in double figures. I thought we could out-tough them. Clearly, that was not the case.’’