Come on, admit you’re surprised about Oak Park

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One of the biggest surprises of the season has to be what’s going on at Oak Park.

Don’t act surprised -- how many people out there honestly felt this team would make it to the Division III-AA boys’ basketball playoff semifinals? I certainly didn’t, and I’m man enough to admit it. I thought there was a better chance the Eagles would be holding a team banquet rather than playing a basketball game in the last week of February.

Now, call me a slow learner, but I’m still not convinced the Eagles are a legitimate title contender. Sure, Friday’s OT victory over Windward was a testament to how much Bobby Hillard and his swooshing disciples have grown under first-year Coach Joey Ramirez, but tonight’s game against Price will show conclusively if the Eagles are good enough to be champions.

Still, it isn’t going to be easy.

Earlier this season, Price demolished the same Windward team it took an extra frame for the Eagles to conquer and the Knights are coming off a pretty easy quarterfinal game against Savanna.

The Eagles must play their best game of the season to get past these guys. Hillard needs to have an awesome game on the scoresheet and on the boards (he usually does) and teammates Andy Winningham, Blake Davenport and Samuel Levine need to enhance their scoring and defensive efforts. A little luck in the form of an off-night by Price’s Tyreese Breshers, Keith Taylor or Kenny Albritton could go a long way, too.

Besides, if the Eagles win tonight, they can remind me how wrong I’ve been about them when I watch them play in the finals Saturday at the Honda Center.

And I don’t even want to think what’ll happen if Oak Park threads the needle and takes the divisional title. I’ll have to eat my entire reporter’s notebook if that happens.

-- Austin Knoblauch

-- Image from http://www.twinsdays.org