Extra Points: Oak Lawn's Defense Leads the Way in Win Over Evergreen Park Taking It One Quarter At a Time

Coaches regularly emphasize the importance of teamwork. When a team responds and plays team ball, it doesn’t go unnoticed.

Just ask Oak Lawn’s Scott Atkins, who saw his Spartans put together a strong effort after a relatively slow start Tuesday night in Four Spartans scored in double figures, but more importantly, Oak Lawn delivered a strong defensive performance.

“We have been playing great team basketball the last few weeks,” Atkins said. “We are consistently having three or four players in double figures. The most important thing is we stepped up our team defense and are able to make adjustments when we’re not playing well.”

Oak Lawn led 18-14 after one quarter and 36-29 at the half. The Spartans came out on fire in the second half and outscored the Mustangs 21-10 in the third quarter. Lyndell Johnson scored seven points in the quarter to help break the game open.

Oak Lawn was led in scoring by Cullen Moore with 14 points, Jon Matthews with 13, Colin Altenburg with 12 and Leon Reed with 11. Altenburg also grabbed 12 rebounds.

The defensive effort was especially pleasing for Atkins, who knows the Spartans must play good team defense if they are going to do well in the playoffs.

Evergreen Park’s Brian Townsend Jr. was one player the Spartans didn’t have an answer for, as he scored a game-high 16 points.

The Best Play: With only ticks left on the clock in the first half, the Mustangs’ Dillon Knight netted a shot from downtown to cut the Spartans’ advantage to 36-29.

Team Records: Oak Lawn is 12-10 overall, 6-6 in the South Suburban Red Division. Evergreen Park is 5-21 overall and 0-12 in the same conference.

Sophomore Score: Evergreen Park 54, Oak Lawn 52 (OT). Morgan Murphy led Evergreen with 14 points, while Martin Einikis lead Oak Lawn with 15.