HINSDALE Oak Park-River Forest handed Hinsdale Central its first West Suburban Silver loss Friday night, and it was no surprise that the long-distance shooting of Elliot Greffin played a factort.
The Huskies’ reserve knocked down three three-pointers and finished with a season-high 15 points to lead Oak Park-River Forest past the Red Devils 51-47 in Hinsdale.
Hinsdale Central (17-3, 6-1) played without its two leading scorers, Matt Rafferty, who was sidelined with a hand injury, and George Kiernan, absent because of an unexpected family commitment.
Greffin, a senior guard, probably wishes the Huskies (10-8, 3-4) faced Hinsdale Central more than twice in a season. Last year, he dropped in 17 points during a 57-53 loss to the Red Devils.
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“I just always get up for [playing Hinsdale Central],” Greffin said. “It is one of those games, we consider it a rivalry. We have heard them say things about us, so I just always get up for it.
“Coach pulled me over and said, ‘We need something from you tonight.’ Usually when he does that, I answer. So he called my number when we were in early foul trouble, and I answered.”
Greffin said he doesn’t look to carry the load each night and is comfortable with his role.
“I cannot expect to score 15 points [every game]. I just let the game come to me,” Greffin said. “I just play within myself. If the ball comes to me and I am open, I am supposed to shoot it.”
Oak Park-River Forest coach Matt Maloney hopes Greffin will continue providing a spark for the Huskies into the playoffs.
“If he brings that [shooting], he is going to give us another dimension hitting that stretch run,” Maloney said.
The Red Devils finished the first half of the West Suburban Silver undefeated, but a repeat a second time through was made more difficult with starters missing.
“Our goal is always to just play as well as we can and play to our full potential,” Red Devils coach Nick Latorre said. “We never talk about number of wins, or going undefeated.”
OPRF has been inconsistent and coach Matt Maloney is hoping the win puts the Huskies on the right track.
“We felt like we were starting to get it together and were trending upward,” Maloney said. “We knew this would be a big game. Obviously they were down Rafferty and Kiernan, but I thought our guys did not take them lightly.
“It was a really nice team defensive effort. We did not stray from the game plan. We talked about trying to slow the game down and not allow them to run a lot of sets and get out in transition. We had to find a way to get better shots.”
Thomas Ives led Hinsdale Central with 13 points, including two three-pointers late in the fourth quarter.
Dallis Flowers added 12 points for the Huskies.
Patrick Kelly is a freelancer for Pioneer Press