Oak Forest’s Robbie Avila performs lovely basketball.
The 6-Eight sophomore’s sport has advanced tremendously this season. He’s not only a publish presence, he’s a dominant throughout participant—among the finest within the state.
Avila has a delicate contact on his shot, terrific passing instincts and a really feel for the sport that’s not possible to show.
It was all on show within the Bengals’ 81-58 win in opposition to Crane within the championship sport of the Maine East Holiday Tournament on Monday in Park Ridge.
“Im not trying to oversell him but he’s as good as any sophomore I’ve seen as a high school player,” Oak Forest coach Matt Manzke mentioned. “I get where other kids might have a higher ceiling. But as a high school player I would take him right now over anybody. Especially the way we play.”
Avila completed with 21 factors, 11 rebounds, seven assists, 5 blocks and three steals. He shot 9-for-10 from the sphere.
“He’s so underrated,” Manzke mentioned. “He does everything. We put him at as the point, he passes, he rebounds, he defends. He is the real thing, the total package.”
Avila’s clean, unselfish sport suits in completely together with his group. That’s seemingly as a result of his older brother Juan, a senior, units the tone. He had 18 factors and 6 assists.
“It starts with Juan,” Manzke mentioned. “He could score way more but he gives it up for [Jayson Kent] and Robbie. No one can be selfish or it would stick out.”
Kent, who has presents from Northern Illinois and IUPUI, added 12 factors for Oak Forest (12-1).
“[Winning the title] meant a lot to us,” Kent mentioned. “Last year we came in second and it left a bad taste in our mouth. This year we came in with a chip on our shoulder to win the championship.”
Grid View
The Bengals jumped out to a 23-12 benefit. Crane (12-2) lower the result in two on a three-pointer from Robert Hobbs with 5:29 left within the second quarter. The Bengals responded with a 10-Zero run and by no means seemed again.
Hobbs led the Cougars, who beat Orr final week, with 18 factors and 9 rebounds. Jimarius Sneed added 10 factors and 12 rebounds.
“We just didn’t play our style of basketball,” Crane coach Alonzo Crowder mentioned. “We are a much better team than that. We didn’t pay attention to the details. We were prepared and we knew what they were going to run, we just didn’t follow the game plan. It was out of character.”