Boys Basketball: Eisenhower rallies to beat Oak Forest

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Updated: February 10, 2012 8:31AM

It wasn’t unusual for Eisenhower’s Tyrone Terrell to score his first 12 points Friday night on three-pointers, but the guard put the ball on the floor and went to the basket when it really counted.

Terrell scored 12 of Eisenhower’s 22 fourth-quarter points to lead the Cardinals to a come-from-behind 71-60 South Suburban crossover victory over host Oak Forest.

“I realized my shots weren’t falling, so I decided to go to the hoop,’’ Terrell said. “I saw they were getting tired.’’

Terrell sure wasn’t tired. After he hit two free throws to put Eisenhower ahead 60-56 with 2:51 to play, Terrell stole the inbounds pass and scored to make it 62-56.

Terrell added a driving layup and a basket off another steal to give the Cardinals a 66-58 advantage with 1:50 left.

“I’ll tell you what, he’s the real deal,’’ Oak Forest coach Matt Manzke said.

“As soon as he really gets a grasp of playing on both ends of the floor and what playing hard is, he’s got a chance to be one of the best players in the area,’’ Eisenhower coach Mike Curta said. “He just asserted his will. We keep telling him you’re not going to assert it by playing with the ball and shooting contested shots.’’

Terrell scored a game-high 28 points, Kenny Jackson had 10 points and Isaac Bronaugh and Mike White Jr. each had nine points for Eisenhower (5-12, 1-4).

“Our goal is not to come out and make everything a three,’’ Curta said. “Our goal is we want an uncontested layup or a three.’’

Tim Loeding led Oak Forest (8-6, 3-2) with 22 points and 10 rebounds, Kyle Funkhouser had 15 points and Tom Zale added 10 points.

“We got tired,’’ Manzke said. “I thought more than anything mental fatigue set in.’’

Oak Forest had a slim 36-35 halftime lead after starting the game with a 9-0 run and opening up a 13-3 advantage. Loeding had 11 points in the first half, working underneath for three layups and a three-point play.