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Sports

Extra Points: Oak Lawn's Altenburg Steps Up at Just the Right Time

Senior Colin Altenburg is bringing his 'A' game in a bid to help the Spartans make a run at the St. Rita Regional.

Colin Altenburg knows the importance of the postseason. That's why he's determined to step up his game and help the Spartans make a run in the Class 4A St. Rita Regional.

Altenburg scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds in Oak Lawn's 47-40 boys basketball victory over Argo on Monday night. He scored nine unanswered points in the first quarter to help the the Spartans jump out to an 11-2 lead.

"He was aggressive to the rim, and he's been playing with a lot of confidence lately," Oak Lawn coach Scott Atkins said. "He attacked the rim and, to his teammates' credit, I thought they did a nice job getting him the ball on the floor."

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Altenburg said he pushed himself extra-hard to make sure that Oak Lawn advanced in the 4A playoffs.

"It's win or go home," he said. "It's my senior year, and I don't want to go home in the first round of the playoffs. I want to make it make it as far we can. We've got a chance to do some big things in the regionals--that's what coach keeps preaching."

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Altenburg said his team has been preparing to play Mt.Carmel, so he expects the Spartans will be ready for Tuesday night's semifinal showdown. Tip-off is at 6.

"We've been practicing and putting some stuff together for about a week and a half now," he said. "We expected to be in this game, we're in the game and we're ready to go."

The Best Play: Argo's Tamone Littlefield hit a three-pointer to start off the fourth quarter and cut Oak Lawn's lead to 34-32. But, just seconds later, Callen Moore retaliated with a three-pointer of his own to give the Spartans momentum as well as a 37-32 lead.

A Look Ahead: The Spartans will face Mt. Carmel at 6 p.m. Tuesday for a chance to compete in the St. Rita Regional title game on Friday night.

Hot Links Miss something? Read "Boys Basketball: Oak Lawn Holds Off Argo" http://patch.com/A-f1jm 

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