Colvin comes up big for Young vs. Oak Park

Oak Park's Daniel Barnes dribbles behind his back against Young.
(Patrick Gleason/For the Sun-Times)

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Young guard Chris Colvin has had an interesting season.

And that’s putting it kindly.

There have been all kinds of issues. Grades, disagreements with Young coach Tyrone Slaughter, you name it.

But in the past few weeks, things have fallen into place. Colvin, who didn’t even play in a number of the Dolphins biggest games, is back in the starting lineup and playing very well.

His presence on the court seems to give the Dolphins more cohesiveness. It was a major factor in Young’s 69-61 win over Oak Park Tuesday in the Class 4A Proviso East Sectional semifinals.

“Chris Colvin is our best basketball player,” Slaughter said. “We’ve known that all year. The whole team knows that. He’s finally on the same page with us. We met him halfway and he met us halfway. It’s making a big difference now.”

Colvin finished with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. More importantly, he has cut down his turnovers and isn’t taking bad shots. He finished 5-for-9 from the field.

“My coach and my team did me a favor by putting me in the starting lineup,” Colvin said. “It feels good to really be able to help out the team. It’s been a bit of a rough season for me.”

Transfer rumors have swirled around Colvin, but he says that’s just talk.

“Nothing but rumors,” Colvin said. “I will be here next year. Things will go smoother. I’ve figured a lot out this season.

A three-pointer by Julian Kenner with 3:39 to play in the third quarter put the Dolphins ahead 49-30. Oak Park spent the rest of the game chipping away at the lead.

Levell Coppage drained a three with 28 seconds to play that cut Young’s lead to three points, but the Dolphins shot 3-of-5 from the line from then on to seal the win.

“We’re a good basketball team and a lot of people seem to be forgetting that,” Slaughter said. “We have four losses, all to ranked teams, by a combined 10 points.”

Kenner led the Dolphins (25-5) with 19 points and sophomore Anthony Johnson added 10. AJ Rompza finished with nine points.

Daniel Barnes led the Huskies with 18 points. Marcus Acree and Adam Taylor each scored 14. Iman Shumpert, who was hounded by Bryan Hall throughout the game, finished with eight points.