Boys’ basketball: Oak Park has impressive freshman duo
Riley Battin and Wes Slajchert will make Eagle fans happy
The Bird Cage, otherwise known as the cheering section at Oak Park High, is going to get a little excited this winter when they see the impact freshmen Wes Slajchert and Riley Battin will make for a team that won the Division 3A championship last season and returns several key players.
“They’re pretty good,” Coach Aaron Shaw said of the freshman duo.
At Tuesday’s Maranatha tournament, during a 70-47 win over La Canada, the duo hardly acted like freshmen. Slajchert, a guard, already has smoothly made the transition into the starting lineup. He knows to get the ball to standout returning guard Michael Alvarez and also can hit shots when open. He’s the younger brother of former Oak Park center JD Slajchert, who will be playing for UC Santa Barbara next season.
Battin, who’s 6 feet 7 with an outside shot, was aggressive, versatile and also looked comfortable assuming roles usually reserved for seniors.
Alvarez finished with 20 points. Battin had 17 points. Slajchert had 10 points and five assists.
Shaw, last season’s coach of the year, is going to have lots of weapons to turn to.
Whatever happens, The Bird Cage is going to be very pumped.
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