It had already been a good week for Oak Park’s Iman Shumpert.
The senior guard received invitations to play in both the McDonald’s and Jordan Brand Classic All-American games, but the highlight came Friday night when his Huskies claimed their second straight West Suburban Silver title with a 63-50 victory at Lyons Township.
“That’s individual stuff. You can worry about that after the season,” said Shumpert, whose game-high 28 points were fueled by 13-for-14 shooting from the foul line.
“At the end of the day, as long as we’re winning, I’m happy.”
Oak Park (22-5, 10-2) never trailed and threatened to run away from the Lions, building a 24-9 lead in the first minute of the second quarter. Lyons (21-4, 9-3) fought back to trail only 28-25 at the half on a bucket by Ed Viliunas (14 points) but never drew closer.
The pace of the game slowed considerably in the third and fourth quarters thanks to fouls.
Oak Park converted 21 of 27 free throws on the night and scored 19 of its 23 fourth-quarter points from the line.
The Huskies were without standout guard Daniel Barnes, who went down with a hamstring injury late in Thursday’s practice. They got 10 first-half points from Marcus Acree to help absorb some of Barnes’ usual production. Forward Adam Taylor added six points.
Barnes, who’s on crutches, is day-to-day, and the longer Oak Park lasts in the Class 4A state playoffs, the better chance that he can return.
“It’s been hard to follow him going to the bus, and it’s hard to hold the door for him when he’s walking through the school,” said Shumpert of Barnes.
