Familiar faces are gone, but OPHS basketball remains a force in TVL

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers TRIGGERMAN- Oak Park senior point guard Andy Winningham directs the Eagles' offense against Royal. Winningham said he models his game after Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash. The Oak Park High boys' basketball team has an entirely new look this season.

Longtime Eagle head coach Ed Chevalier has retired. He's been replaced by Joey Ramirez, who worked with Chevalier as an assistant last year.

Gone too is standout center Kareem Maddox. Maddox, last season's team leader in points, rebounds and blocks, is averaging nine minutes per game as a freshman forward at Princeton University.

The departures of Maddox and Chevalier forced the team to make adjustments during the offseason, said OPHS starting senior point guard Andy Winningham.

"Kareem was unstoppable the last few years," Winningham said. "Anytime something broke down on offense he could score himself.

"Without him this year we've had to become a little more balanced. It's probably going to be good for us to be able to get scoring from different places on the floor."

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers HE'S ON THE MARK- Eagle senior forward/guard Bobby Hillard, left, has already scored 37 points in a game this season. Oak Park started the season by winning four of its first five games, including victories over Hart of Newhall and Marmonte League up-and-comer Moorpark High.

The Eagles, however, lost three consecutive games at last week's Oak Park Tournament, where they finished in fourth place. OPHS entered the week with a 4-4 overall record.

"We started the season pretty good but have fallen into a little bit of a funk lately. That's been a little different for us," said Ramirez, who previously served as the head coach at Santa Paula High before joining Oak Park last year.

Ramirez said he was surprised when Chevalier announced he'd be stepping down. Replacing a local legend on the bench- Chevalier also coached at Thousand Oaks High for many years- hasn't been as tough as one might think, Ramirez said.

"Stepping into a program like this, there are so many good people around you," Ramirez said. "The pressure you put on yourself is what it is. But other than just coming in and coaching and trying to teach the kids, it hasn't been that much different for me."

Taking over the reigns as the Eagles' top scoring option is senior guard/forward Bobby Hillard. A year ago, Hillard averaged 9.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

In a pair of early-season wins against Granada Hills High and Hart of Newhall, Hillard scored 21 and 37 points, respectively. He added 18 rebounds in the Hart game.

"Bobby Hillard is going to be a force this year," Winningham said. "He's a lot like Kareem. He can take the ball to the basket basically any time he wants to."

Winningham will once again serve as the floor general in the Oak Park offensive attack. Distributing the basketball has always been Winningham's specialty, but this season he's looking to score more, too.

"Andy is a great basketball player and a great person," Ramirez said.

"He's a coach on the floor. He's smart. He takes a lot of pressure off all the other players. Andy can do a lot of things for us. He's a very heady guy."

Sophomore Blake Davenport starts at shooting guard. Davenport has a ton of upside on both ends of the court, the coach said.

Senior Mitchell Halpert and junior Samuel Levine round out the OPHS starting five. Both players have enough versatility to play either the guard or forward positions.

When the Eagles need to bring a few big bodies off the bench, they've been turning to senior forwards Robby Yeager and Josh Marcus.

Marcus is in his first year at Oak Park, having transferred from a small continuation school. Although he's one of the new guys on the squad, Marcus said the team chemistry and work ethic is already conducive to success.

"When we're playing at our best, we communicate well and play one game as a team," Marcus said. "For us, it's all about communication and going full speed 100 percent of the time."

Reserves Nick Stalzer, David Ju, Steven Brodie, Amit Ranan, Kameron Moore, Justin Woo and Austin Ramljak are all being counted on to provide a spark of the bench when called upon.

With Oaks Christian, Carpinteria and Santa Clara all expected to push Oak Park for the top spot in the Tri-Valley League, Ramirez knows his team must improve all of its fundamentals- and, more specifically, its defense- to challenge for a fourth consecutive league championship.

"We need to be in the right positions, box out- all the fundamental things on defense need to be done right," Ramirez said.

"We'll be fine. We can get there. We're already a lot better than we were two weeks ago. Things are just getting started for us."