All-around Avila
Indiana State recruit shoots, defends and rebounds as Oak Forest rolls past Crete-Monee
At 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds, senior forward Robbie Avila can take over games with his inside play.
Where the Oak Forest big man surprises opponents, though, is with his game away from the basket — his ability to take the ball away from speedy guards and run the floor.
“People don’t think I can get there at my size, so I just shock people and that’s when I get those steals,” Avila said. “I’m just trying to bring everything I’ve got.”
Avila, an Indiana State recruit, showed it all and then some Wednesday night. He finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds, four blocked shots and four steals in the host Bengals’ 60-48 victory over Crete-Monee.
“We made a conscience effort to go inside and post him in this game,” Oak Forest coach Matt Manzke said of Avila. “But he runs the back end of our press, he passes the ball, he can hit a jump shot. We can play through him in a lot of different ways.
“He just makes everyone around him better.”
Fred Robinson contributed 20 points for Oak Forest (5-0), while Taurean Mickens pulled down five rebounds.
Johnny Evans led CreteMonee (0-4) with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Miles Gillespie added 10 points and five rebounds.
Avila scored 22 points in the first half, including 11 in each of the first two quarters. He said he’s trying to implement what he learned during a big summer run with the Meanstreets travel team.
“Just being more physical,” Avila said. “I’m obviously bigger than most guys around here, so bringing that physicality and that skill that I learned over the summer is important.
“Having my teammates trust me inside all the time is big for me.”
Robinson offers another component for Oak Forest with his ability to run the offense and drive to the basket.
Last season was Robinson’s first with the Bengals after transferring from Lincoln-Way East. He feels a new comfort level with his teammates.
“I missed five games at the start of last year and with COVID, I couldn’t really bond with the team or know our personnel really well,” he said. “This year, I’ve gotten to know my guys in school, out of school, on the court, off the court.
“Now I know what everybody can do and I can distribute the ball to guys wherever they’re strong at.”
Robinson and Avila are forming quite the duo.
“It works great,” Robinson said. “My first option is Robbie, but I also look for myself and look to take
my own shots. We play together as a team and we can put up a lot of points.
“No one’s selfish. We all play together, pass the ball around, and we can get open looks.”
Leading 13-11 after one quarter, Oak Forest outscored the Warriors 21-5 in the second quarter to pull away.
The Bengals led 50-23 entering the fourth, but Crete-Monee stormed back.
The Warriors hit five 3-pointers in the fourth, featuring three from Gillespie, to pull within 10.
That was a good sign for a team with limited practice time as several players were on the CreteMonee football team that reached the Class 6A state semifinals.
“My guys always compete and play hard,” Crete-Monee coach Brad Meyer said. “More than anything, I’m impressed with them. Half my roster was on the football field during that state game. We had one practice and then we were playing Morgan Park the next day.
“We’ve got some work to get in, but I’m really excited to see the progression and I think we’re going to sneak up on some people.”