Solo act: Shumpert shines for Oak Park
Oak Park’s Iman Shumpert had talent around him on Tuesday, but it didn’t equate to what Daniel Barnes usually offers him.
With Barnes, a Division I recruit, missing his second game with a hamstring injury, Shumpert took it upon himself to do less passing and more scoring with the Huskies’ season on the line in an Oak Park Regional semifinal game against Hyde Park on Tuesday
(Scott Powers/For the Sun-Times)
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Huskies knock off Hyde Park
Shumpert didn’t let anyone down. His game-high 33 points, nine rebounds and four steals led the Huskies to a 75-64 win.
It was Shumpert’s second biggest performance of the season. Only his 34-point, double-overtime game against Warren at Pontiac, which also happened to be Oak Park’s last loss, trumped Tuesday’s output.
“When Dan’s playing, he defers to him,” Oak Park coach Al Allen said of Shumpert. “If there’s someone of equal ability, he’ll always defer. With Dan out, he had to do a lot more.”
Shumpert stepped up with “more” in the opening half. With his teammates still trying to find their playoff grove, Shumpert carried the load, scoring 22 of the Huskies’ 39 points in a variety of ways.
“I knew without Dan, I had to do more scoring with the ball,” said Shumpert, who was recently named to the McDonald’s and Jordan‘s all-star games. “I do whatever I need to do for the team to win.”
After halftime, Hyde Park (20-7) threw a box-and-one on Shumpert. It was then the rest of the Huskies (23-5) emerged.
Adam Taylor (12 points, seven rebounds), Marcus Acree (11 points) and Clarke Cuthbert (10 points) all got involved to assist Shumpert.
In the decisive fourth quarter, Taylor and Acree especially stepped up. Hyde Park led 56-54 with 5:34 left in the game, when Acree, Taylor and Shumpert got together to pull the Huskies back. The trio combined for 22 fourth-quarter points as Oak Park went on a 21-8 run to end the game.
Shumpert scored nine points in the fourth quarter. His final two came on a two-handed dunk just before time expired.
“It was a statement to be made,” Shumpert said.
Jerome Moore (20 points) and Malcolm Griffin (15 points, seven assists) led Hyde Park, which earned Allen’s respect.
“I wasn’t happy with our seeding, but maybe they were seeded too low,” Allen said. “That coach does a great job over there. They won 20 games and don’t get any respect. Nobody talks about them.”
Barnes is considered day-to-day for Oak Park. He did compete in the three-point competition before the game.