Boys Basketball: Clayton Comes Up Big in Evergreen Park's Win over L-W West

The Skinny: The littlest player on the floor hit the biggest shot in Evergreen Park’s 59-53 boys basketball victory over Lincoln-Way West Wednesday night in New Lenox. Turron Clayton, a 5-foot-6 junior point guard, sank a three-pointer to snap a 48-48 deadlock. The Mustangs pushed their lead to 55-48 and held on over the final 4 minutes in play at the Knights/Warriors Boys Basketball Winter Classic. The game featured six ties and 14 lead changes.

Patch’s MVP: Turron Clayton, 5-6, junior, guard, Evergreen Park. Clayton scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter and hit a three-pointer to snap a 48-48 tie with 5:12 left.

Key Stats: Evergreen Park outrebounded Lincoln-Way West 50-36. The Mustangs finished with a 22-11 scoring edge at the free throw line.

Evergreen Park Leaders: Jacquet McClendon (12 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocked shots), Turron Clayton (11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 6-of-10 free throw shooting), Brandon White (10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals). Brian Townsend (10 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocked shots).

Lincoln-Way West Leaders: Brian Skowronski (17 points, 6 steals, 5-of-10 on three-point shooting), Kevin White (17 points, 6 steals), Hayden Witt (15 points, 6 rebounds, 1 blocked shot).

Quotable I: “Oh, I just wanted to take what the defense gave me,” Evergreen Park’s Turron Clayton said of his tie-breaking three-pointer in the fourth quarter. “I just wanted to stay aggressive. They gave me an open look, so the first thing I wanted to do was try to knock down that shot the best way I could.”

Quotable II: “I think they outworked us,” Lincoln-Way West coach Eric Long said. “They got about every loose ball, important rebounds, and then when we had some opportunities we either missed a shot or missed a lot of free throws (West was 11-of-24 from the line). That ended up being a huge aspect of the game.”

Quotable III: “We need to win a home game, and we need to win a conference game,” Evergreen Park coach Pat Flannigan said. “That’s pretty much what they said when they hired me. So, that’s our goal. We haven’t done that in a while. So, why not T.F. North?”

Team Records: Evergreen Park is 2-4. Lincoln-Way West is 2-3.

What’s Next: Evergreen Park plays host to Thornton Fractional North on Friday night. Lincoln-Way West play at Stagg on Friday night.

Coming Thursday: Log on to Evergreen Park Patch at 12:30 p.m. Thursday to find out the strategy employed by Evergreen Park coach Pat Flannigan that served to help his little point guard.