Court tester: David Vargas uses his smarts, does a little bit of everything as Sandburg dominates Oak Forest. A little? ‘He does a lot.’

A high basketball IQ will take you a long way.

Sandburg junior David Vargas stretches his out in multiple ways.

The long version?

“He gives you a lot of defensive touches, a couple of steals, a couple of rebounds, a couple of really good passes,” Eagles coach John Daniels said. “He can handle the ball and he can really shoot.”

The short version?

“He does a lot,” Daniels said, smiling.

The 6-foot guard showed off his team-leading scoring form Friday night for Sandburg in a 58-37 nonconference victory over visiting Oak Forest in Orland Park.

Vargas scored 15 points and had three rebounds for Sandburg (4-7). James Prendergast contributed 12 points and seven rebounds, while Paulius Mizeras added 11 points.

Deshawn Nolan paced Oak Forest (4-4) with eight points and 10 rebounds. Johnny Wiggins added eight points.

Vargas was razor sharp at the start of the second half.

The Eagles led 27-26 when Vargas drilled a 3-pointer from the right side. It started a 13-0 run that included his rebound and putback along with a steal and short jumper.

“That was just part of a team effort,” Vargas said. “Coach uses a term, ‘Play hard, play smart, play together.’ That’s what we try to do out there.”

Vargas is at the top of the offensive chart for Sandburg, averaging 13 points. But it’s not the shot accuracy that Daniels loves. It’s how he gets in position to hit them.

“It’s about understanding passing angles, understanding where to bring the ball to get a good pass, or how to set up your footwork to get a good shot,” Daniels said. “David does a good job of that.”

It’s a result of what Daniels envisioned when he brought Vargas up to the varsity as a sophomore.

“When I came into the program, I didn’t know a lot of the kids,” Daniels said. “He and our point guard Paulius Mizeras showed a lot of promise. I thought they could compete with the varsity players who were there.

“The key is catching up to the speed of the game. If you play on the freshman or sophomore team, it’s a different speed, a different pace. By getting David some varsity experience, it was almost a two-year plan for him.”

It came as a surprise to Vargas, who as a freshman played at that level.

“During the summer coach, pulled me up and told me not to be nervous and do my thing,” Vargas said.

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Vargas averaged four points coming off the bench. The smartest thing he did was listen.

“I was a little bit nervous going into it, but everybody on the varsity worked with me,” Vargas said. “It helped a lot to prepare me for this season. My experience as a sophomore gave me a big leap in being able to do what I want to do.

“Even now, we push each other to make each other better at practice every day. No one on our team plays selfishly. I’m doing some scoring, but I credit my team for getting me open.”

Prendergast came to life in the post Friday with six rebounds as Sandburg pulled away in the second half. Of his four baskets, two were on putbacks.

He also had a nifty assist on a quick cut to the basket by Vargas.

“I look for everybody, but he’s shooting great this season,” Prendergast said. “And by him shooting the way he does, that gets other people open as well.

“We use a lot of screens for him. We’re prepared to get David open with screens, and he does a great job setting screens to get himself open. I look for David a lot, and I’ll continue to look his way no matter what.”