For Evergreen Park’s Nolan Sexton, there are some big challenges that come with having his dad, Jim, as his basketball coach.
The junior guard knows his father will never let him slack off. And he would not want it any other way.
“He’s harder on me than most,” Nolan said. “I like it. It pushes me and definitely makes me a better player, but it’s definitely harder than if I had anyone else coaching me.
“He knows what he’s doing, so I don’t question him.”
The Sextons are always there for each other’s big moments, like when Nolan surpassed 1,000 career points in late January. Evergreen Park’s record books are incomplete, but Nolan is believed to be the first player in program history to hit that mark.
Jim Sexton, meanwhile, won his 100th game with the Mustangs shortly after.
“We get to share the fun moments and the big wins,” Jim said. “We talk a lot of basketball — pretty much nonstop.”
Nolan’s feat is more impressive considering his freshman year was shortened due to the pandemic. He still has another season to make his record tougher to beat.
“It means a lot,” Nolan said. “It was an exciting thing. I’ve worked really hard ever since I got here going into freshman year, even with the short year.
“It’s not all about points, though. I’m just trying to play my game. When other people are hitting shots, it gets my assists up.”
Nolan has done a lot of his scoring on 3-pointers. Never shy to pull up from well beyond the 3-point line, he has been developing that range for years.
“My dad ran lessons when I was little, and I’d always go there and work on my dribbling moves,” Nolan said. “I always shot from far out like I do now. I’d go shoot from half-court and stuff like that. It was always fun.”
Sexton hopes he can do some big things in the playoffs for Evergreen Park (17-14), which is seeded eighth in the Class 3A Hillcrest Sectional and set to open at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday with a Brooks Regional semifinal against the ninth-seeded host Eagles.
A proud father, Jim Sexton was thrilled to see his son go over 1,000 points.
“It’s kind of that magical 1,000-point number, especially at the high school level and especially with the COVID year included when we only played 13 games his freshman year,” he said. “Hopefully, there are many more to come, but this is a nice milestone.
“He’s going to keep working hard, and hopefully continue to grow not only on his individual success, but more important the team success.”
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Finding a way: Bloom (18-9, 10-2) has been hit by a rash of injuries in the second half of the season. The Blazing Trojans, who have played most of 2023 without forwards Jayden Watson and Michael Garner, recently lost star guard Jordan Brown.
Nonetheless, Bloom was able to pull out the outright Southland Conference championship, edging Thornwood (20-10, 9-3).
“We’ve won four of the last five conference titles,” Bloom coach Dante Maddox said. “It’s one of our goals, and this year, it’s been a little more difficult because we’ve been short-handed since January. A lot of guys have stepped up.”
Garner has returned to the court. Maddox is hoping to have Brown back for the playoffs.
“Our young guys like sophomores Santana Flowers and Elijah Lovemore have expanded their roles and are ready to help us in the playoffs, when we can hopefully mix some of these other guys back in,” Maddox said.
AJ’s award: It’s not easy to win a conference player of the year award when your team goes 4-9 in league play, but Eisenhower’s AJ Abrams impressed opposing coaches enough to do just that in the South Suburban Red.
Abrams, a junior guard, is averaging 22 points and 7.7 rebounds.
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.