Sports

Boys Basketball: Funkhouser, Oak Forest Hit L-W Central With a 3-Point Barrage

Oak Forest 63, Lincoln-Way Central 54: Kyle Funkhouser made five 3-pointers and scored 18 points to pace the Bengals in pool play Tuesday in the Medieval Classic at Lincoln-Way North.

The Skinny: Kyle Funkhouser’s 90-mph fastball is legendary in high school baseball circles. His three-point shooting soon will be the talk of the prep basketball world if he keeps on blistering the nets. Funkhouser rained down five 3s in Oak Forest’s 63-54 boys basketball victory over Lincoln-Way Central on Tuesday afternoon in pool play in the Medieval Classic at Lincoln-Way North. He scored 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting. And he teamed with Tim Loeding to deny Lincoln-Way Central’s 6-foot-8 Brad Foster the ball as the Bengals used a 13-2 third-quarter run to pull away. The two teams were deadlocked 30-30 at halftime. Oak Forest made 11-of-14 three-pointers. The hot shooting followed on the heels of an ice-cold 3-for-27 performance by the Bengals in a 36-35 loss to Lincoln-Way North on Monday.

Patch’s MVP: Kyle Funkhouser, 6-3, senior, guard, Oak Forest. He made 6-of-10 shots, including five 3-pointers. When he wasn’t scoring, he was dishing the ball off to his teammates (4 assists in the fourth quarter) or working to befuddle Lincoln-Way Central’s Brad Foster (15 points, 7-of-17 shooting).

Key Moments: Lincoln-Way Central rode the hot hand of sophomore Brad Bass to build a 17-10 first-quarter lead. Bass scored eight of his 15 points in the Knights’ opening flurry. Oak Forest responded with runs of 7-0 and 13-2 in the third quarter to take a 43-32 lead. The Bengals hit 8-of-9 shots in the quarter, including their first six straight. For about a 1:30, it was wham, bam, thank you, ma'am.

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Oak Forest Leaders: Kyle Funkhouser (18 points, five 3-pointers, 4 assists in the fourth quarter), Mario Schaeffer (14 points, 10 in the second half), T.J. Mayer (14 points, four 3-pointers).

Lincoln-Way Central Leaders: Brad Bass (15 points, 7 rebounds), Brad Foster (15 points, 4 rebounds), Kevin Mampe (13 points, 11 in the second half), Johnny Finnin (11 points, 6 rebounds).

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Quotable I:  “Yeah, I think we were 3-for-27 yesterday,” Oak Forest’s Kyle Funkhouser said. “We just got to work in the field house, and we came out and hit some shots today. It felt good.”

Quotable II: “Our big guy, Tim Loeding, he’s terrific,” Oak Forest coach Matt Manzke said. “And teams know that they’re not going to let him beat us. So, you’ll see teams put two, three, sometimes even four guys in the paint. And our perimeter guys just need to step up with confidence and shoot them. Today, they stepped up with confidence. They knocked them down. When our guys make perimeter shots, it changes the whole complexion of the game.”

Quotable III: "We've played so many games this year, and we've played teams that were not good shooters," Lincoln-Way Central coach Bob Curran said. "That's a certain style of defense you have to play to guard guys that are drive-first. Well, tonight was a shoot-first team. I just thought we did a poor, poor job of covering shooters and making them drive."

Team Records: Oak Forest is 6-4. Lincoln-Way Central is 5-8.

What’s Next: Oak Forest takes on Thornton Fractional South at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Lincoln-Way North. Lincoln-Way Central faces district rival Lincoln-Way North at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Lincoln-Way North.


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