OP_122718

28 | December 27, 2018 | The orland park prairie sports
opprairie.com
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Home before the holidays
produces win over Andrew
JEFF VORVA, Sports Editor
Home got a little sweeter
for Sandburg’s girls basketball
team.
After eight games on either
an opponent’s court or
a neutral floor, the Eagles
came home on Dec. 11 and
suffered their worst loss of
the year, 70-48.
The second showing in
Orland Park went much better
for the Eagles.
In what figured to be a
close battle between two
District 230 rivals, Sandburg
gave its home crowd plenty
to cheer about breaking out
to a 31-13 lead after three
quarters and hanging on for
a 41-29 victory on Thursday,
Dec. 20.
Since the Argo loss, the
Eagles won three straight
games heading into the Hillcrest
Holiday Tournament
“We were hitting our
shots and getting going
right away,” said Stephanie
Faro, who led the balanced
Eagles attack with 12 points
against Andrew. “Defensively,
we’ve been working
together.”
Faro had 11 points in the
16-minute stretch of the
second and third quarters,
including a buzzer-beating
halftime layup. Grace Badon
added 10 points including
a pair of 3-pointers in the
fourth quarter. Destiny Antoine
added eight points.
The Eagles’ next home
game will be Jan. 8 against
Lincoln-Way East.
Sandburg’s Destiny Antoine (No. 25) gets ready to fire a
pass to Molly Nolan while Andrew’s Aniah Long defends in
the Eagles’ win on Thursday, Dec. 20.
JEFF VORVA/22ND CENTURY MEDIA
Holidays at Hillcrest
The Eagles opened play
in the Hillcrest tournament
with a doubleheader on Saturday,
Dec. 22.
In the first-round morning
session, Sandburg a dominated
Thornton Fractional
South. 52-18. Faro led the
way with 13 points.
In the afternoon championship
bracket, the Eagles
played Rich South even for
32 minutes in regulation but
dropped a 58-52 overtime
decision.
Faro led the Eagles with
18 points and scored a layup
with one second left in regulation
to help send the game
into OT.
Badon added 13 points in
the setback as the Eagles fell
to 9-5.
The tournament was set to
resume on Wednesday, Dec.
26 with the Eagles challenging
Thornton. If they win
that game, they play for fifth
place in the 16-team tournament
on Thursday, Dec. 27.
Here are your assignments
The Illinois High School
Association announced its
postseason assignments and
Sandburg will be in a 20-
team Class 4A sectional that
does not have a host yet.
Sandburg, Marist, Thornton
and Lincoln-Way West
will each host regionals.
Other teams in the sectional
are Eisenhower, Mother
McAuley, Bloom, Crete-
Monee, Homewood-Flossmoor,
Lincoln-Way East,
Thorton Fractional South,
Bremen, Lincoln-Way Central,
Oak Lawn, Richards,
Shepard, Stagg, Thornwood
and Andrew.
The winner heads to the
Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional.
The seeds are expected to
be released on Jan. 31. As of
now, the top team appears to
be Mother McAuley.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Eagles flew into Elmhurst as winners
TIM CRONIN, Freelance Reporter
When Sandburg scored a
60-50 victory over District
230 rival Andrew on Dec.
18, it brought the Eagles
back to .500 for the season.
They were 6-6 entering
the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament
at York in Elmhurst,
which opened on Wednesday,
Dec. 26. They had a
modicum of confidence, and
a bit of momentum.
Some of the good vibes
came from a basic: Sandburg
hit 7-of-11 free throws after
back-to-back games making
only 2-of-9.
“Yeah, 64 percent is an
improvement for us,” coach
Todd Allen said with a
chuckle. “But we were up
17 points in the second half,
and I’ll give our kids credit.
They started fouling but we
made some free-throws.”
A flurry of three-pointers
closed the gap for Andrew,
but both Zach Kusper and
Atharva Atreya were 3-of-
4 from the line in the final
quarter.
Even better for Sandburg,
the Eagles shot 24-of-37
(64.8 percent) from the field,
shaking off the reputation of
being so-so shooters for a
second game in succession.
They were 19-of-41 (46.3
percent) in beating Crete-
Monee.
Just like old times
The game marked the resumption
of the Sandburg-
Andrew series after a year
off. The Thunderbolts are
in the SouthWest Suburban
Red, the Eagles in the Blue,
and the crossover game varies
from year to year. Sandburg’s
crossover foe this
year was Thornton, so Allen
and Andrew coach David
Wilson lined up a game.
“A good district rivalry
win,” Allen said. “It was
good to get them back on the
schedule. I talked to Dave
and said it’s great when we
play each other. I’m happy
to be able to do that.”
Stat of the week
Through the first 12
games, Sandburg twins Marvin
and Kevin Agwomoh
were tied in scoring with 135
points - 11.3 per game.
Conference heats up
Sandburg returns to
SouthWest Blue play on Jan.
8 at Bolingbrook, which was
6-2 entering holiday play.
The Raiders, while a perennial
threat, are thus beatable,
and that’s a common
theme in the league. Lockport
was 7-2, Homewood-
Flossmoor 5-2 entering the
holidays. That’s good but
not dominant. Or is it? Allen’s
not so sure.
“Bolingbrook’s losses
are to two good out-of-state
teams, and one of H-F’s is to
No. 1 Bloom,” Allen said.
The big surprise in the
league so far is Lincoln-Way
East, which was 5-6 after
a 55-54 overtime win in a
crossover game against Lincoln-Way
Central, and 1-1
in conference play. But the
league win was over Sandburg,
and that stuck in the
collective craw of the Eagles
through their last two games
prior to Christmas.
“That was still kind of
gnawing at us,” Allen said.
“One of our goals is finishing
in the Top 3 in the conference.”
Sandburg twins Kevin (left) and Marvin Agwomoh are putting up twin scoring numbers, as
both averaged 11.3 points per game in the Eagles’ first 12 games.
JEFF VORVA/22ND CENTURY MEDIA