The 800 club: Corey Lee’s approach for improvement pays off as Oak Lawn upsets Lemont. ‘I just shot over and over.’

Two years ago, when Corey Lee came to Oak Lawn as a freshman, his shot was flat.

Oh, it was fine when the ball was going in.

“But it wasn’t going in,” joked teammate Ayham Salah.

One reason why Lee’s shot now looks better as the ball actually goes through the basket?

“I just shot over and over — 800 shots a day,” Lee said. “I would shoot after practice, before practice, in the morning, at night. Every hour of the day, almost.”

There was no almost Friday night. Lee and Salah combined for 23 points as host Oak Lawn pulled off a 53-51 upset over Lemont in a South Suburban Conference crossover.

Lemont (15-3, 6-1), ranked No. 8 in Class 3A by The Associated Press, played without star twins Matas and Rokas Castillo for reasons coach Rick Runaas declined to comment.

For Oak Lawn (12-6, 4-2), however, it was the second win over a state-ranked team this season. The Spartans handed No. 3 Mount Carmel its only loss in November.

Lee, a 6-foot junior guard, ended up with nine points, including a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter that gave Spartans a 51-41 lead. They had only two free throws by freshman Jack Dempsey in the final 6 minutes.

“It shows our grit on defense,” Lee said about hanging on for the win.

“We’re tiring a lot of teams out,” said Salah, who finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals.

The Spartans did suffer a blow in the first half when Indiana Tech recruit Xavier Sulaiman came off the bench in his return from a knee injury but left two minutes later after a steal and layup.

“We put him in and we were going to pull him after the first quarter,” Oak Lawn coach Jason Rhodes said. “It’s tough. I really feel for him.

“He practiced (Wednesday) and looked really good. We got the all clear from the doctors, but it was not quite strong enough. It gave out on him.”

Before the injury, in the first eight games, Sulaiman led Oak Lawn in scoring with a 19.6 average.

The Spartans had to get used to playing without him for seven games, and after some ups and downs, they carried a three-game winning streak into Friday night.

Lemont was led by Noah Tomaras with 13 points. Ryan Runaas added 11.

Lemont began a stretch of five games in five days, featuring two Saturday and one Monday at the Deerfield/Lake Forest Martin Luther King Classic and a South Suburban Blue matchup against Hillcrest.

Rick Runaas did not indicate when the Castillo brothers would be back.

He was impressed, though, with how some of Lemont’s other players stepped up.

“Noah has been coming along and has been a six or seven type of guy,” Runaas said. “He got injected into the starting lineup (Friday night) and did what he could do.

“He’s a nice player and he’s been behind great players. It’s not like he can’t play, but it’s been tough to get minutes.”

Meanwhile, Lee continues to be an all-around threat for Oak Lawn. He entered the game averaging 10.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.9 steals.

Not bad for someone who began playing the sport in seventh grade.

“It (stinks) because I have to play against him in practice and he locks me up every day,” Salah said of Lee. “But it’s only making me better so I enjoy it. He brings a lot of energy.

“He’s come a long way from his freshman here in his whole game.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.