Parham Perspective: Hillcrest vs Oak Lawn

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In a busy and loaded weekend of basketball my first stop was a battle of early season unbeaten teams in Hilcrest and Oak Lawn.&nbsp; Here were the best players from tonight's game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Stars of the Game</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was quite clear the two stars going into the game were [player_tooltip player_id='939051' first='Darrion' last='Baker'] (Hilcrest) and [player_tooltip player_id='939076' first='Xavier' last='Sulaiman'] (Oak Lawn). Baker was the focal point of Oak Lawn defense. Which didn't mean much since he still was able to make plays out of the post and from 15 feet in. Baker was able to use his size to score over players even when there wasn't much room to operate.&nbsp; He finished with 19 points and 8 boards. With [player_tooltip player_id='939076' first='Xavier' last='Sulaiman'] he scored hitting some shots on the fast break as well as getting layups and getting fouled when attacking the rim. Sulaiman had a strong 2nd quarter which led the charge for Oak Lawn. In the second half the ball didn't find him as often as he only got to the free throw line 3 times. He finished with 14 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Supporting Cast</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both teams had huge contributions from several players. Hilcrest got a lift from its guard [player_tooltip player_id='939078' first='Bryce' last='Tillery'] and forward [player_tooltip player_id='1279765' first='Quentin' last='Heady']. While Oak Lawn had major contributions from Corey Lee and Ayham Salah. Tillery was very strong picking up 94 feet on the defensive side forcing Oak lawn guards into multiple turnovers and even causing them to commit offensive fouls. Bryce has a knack for getting under ball handlers skin. Heady was able to score many baskets due to the attention that was given to Baker. Heady is the other Hilcrest forward on the court that scores well off missed shots and on broken fast break plays. Quentin finds the right spots on the court numerous times to get easy buckets. For Oak Lawn Corey Lee's ability to get to the rim in tight spots kept them in the game. Lee is a slippery guard who made some nice acrobatics plays when they needed him them most. Salah had a good start on the game making several shots from being on the back end of really good ball movement.&nbsp; He knocked down a couple of threes in the game that help Oak lawn fuel a comeback from being down 10 early in the first quarter.&nbsp; Each Oak Lawn guard finished with double figures as Lee had 17 points and Salah finished with 11 points. While Hillcrest players Heady lead all scored with 20 points and 6 boards. And Tillery added 14 points with 4 steals in a strong early season win for the Hawks.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->