Andrew Boys Basketball Living in the Moment, Tuning Out Distracting Chatter

Jubril Adekoya hears the talk. He tries to block it out.

He doesn’t want to fall victim to a trap of the mind. Nor does he want anything or anybody to spoil the magical season the Andrew boys basketball team is enjoying right now.

Adekoya, a 6-foot-6 junior forward, scored nine of his game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter of the T-Bolts’ 58-37 victory over cross-town rival Tinley Park Tuesday night on the Titans’ home floor. He took over the boards—and the game—in the second half.

Adekoya grabbed 14 of his 17 rebounds in the final two quarters. He made 7-of-11 shots. And he stood tall on a night when Andrew (14-0) appeared ripe for an upset. The T-Bolts were coming off a 10-day layoff between games and couldn’t find much offensive rhythm in the early going.

And, when their lead was sliced to 21-19 in the third quarter, the question was whether they were going to tighten up playing in front of a raucous crowd in a hostile environment.

“Sometimes I think about that, like is it getting into our guys’ heads?” Adekoya said. “Buy we’re keeping it going. We kind of realize it when we start getting tight and coach (Mike O’Halloran) loosens us back up. We just keep moving along with it.

“We just focus on the next opponent. We’ll hear it in school, like the students, the teachers and the faculty, they’ll bring it up. But we don’t talk about being undefeated. We try to stay as humble-headed as possible and just continue to focus on the next game.”

The strategy is working because of O’Halloran’s cool coaching touch and because of the T-Bolts’ strength in numbers. Three players reached double figures in the win over Tinley Park.

Glorind Lisha scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. He is able to slide over and play the two-guard spot on occasion because of unsung hero Mike Bobek’s ball handling. Alex Zappavigna scored 12 points against the Titans—10 in the second half. He also grabbed four rebounds.

And, on another night, it could have been any number of others stepping to the forefront for the T-Bolts, including Tyler “Captain” Hook or Jawad Adekoya, Jubril’s older brother.

“The guys are really poised,” O’Halloran said. “They knew defensively they were going to be OK. They just got a little frustrated on the offensive end.”

Andrew limited Tinley Park to 14-of-53 shooting (26.4 percent) and didn’t allow a basket until the Titans’ Vincent Gooden connected on an off-balance 22-footer as the horn sounded to end the first quarter. The Titans were 2-for-23 from 3-point range.

"We work on close-outs, and we defend the arc," O'Halloran said. "That's all part of defense. We work at it."

O’Halloran counts on his guys to play a sticky man-to-man. He also counts on them to pick each other up in rare down moments. He didn’t spend any extra time talking about what was at stake in the Tinley Park bragging rights game before Tuesday night's tip.

“Instinctively, the guys know that, so we don’t have to mention that,” he said. “It’s just like you guys ask about the (win) streak and everything else. It’s another game, another challenge for us. It’s another opportunity to get another game over .500. That’s what I tell them.

“So, we get after it. It doesn’t matter what it says on the other jersey. Our guys are rising to the occasion.”

And tuning out the distractions.