Three spree: Ulises Cardenas takes nothing for granted, lifts Evergreen Park over Oak Lawn. ‘I knew I had to do something big.’

In his first season of varsity basketball for Evergreen Park, junior guard Ulises Cardenas initially found it challenging to adjust to the high level of play.

With every game, however, Cardenas is getting more comfortable and stepping up bigger and bigger for the Mustangs.

“It was difficult at first,” Cardenas said. “Those first couple games were fast paced. By the second week of it, I started getting used to it.

“I did really good during our workouts before the season and I felt like I could be a very good player on this team.”

Cardenas has emerged as a huge shooting threat for Evergreen Park.

He showed that off Thursday night, knocking down four 3-pointers and scoring 19 points to lift the host Mustangs to a huge 64-61 South Suburban Red victory over Oak Lawn.

Nolan Sexton scored 18 points, Lonnie Mosley chipped in nine points and six rebounds and Billy Buchanan contributed seven points and seven rebounds for Evergreen Park (5-2, 2-1).

Robert Wagner led Oak Lawn (6-2, 1-2) with 14 points. Henry Martinez had 13 points and nine rebounds, while Corey Lee and Xavier Sulaiman scored 10 points apiece.

Cardenas knew how important of a victory it was for the Mustangs against the defending conference champion Spartans.

“Coach (Jim) Sexton kept preaching, ‘Keep going, keep going,’” Cardenas said. “He’s always telling us, ‘Keep fighting.’ I know it’s a big rivalry game and I knew I had to do something big.”

In a nip-and-tuck game, Oak Lawn shook off a 34-30 halftime deficit and led 42-40 late in the third quarter before Cardenas hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Evergreen Park a 46-42 edge.

It also gave the Mustangs momentum heading into the fourth.

“Ulises has had some huge games for us,” Jim Sexton said. “He can really shoot it. He helps us space the floor where we can get those driving lanes open and then guys can stop and kick it back out to him.

“He’s a deadly 3-point shooter, and at the end, he hit some big free throws.”

Indeed, Cardenas went 5-for-6 at the free-throw line in the final minute to help the Mustangs hang on.

“I kind of put my thoughts away,” Cardenas said. “My friends tell me, ‘Don’t think about nothing.’ In practice, we preach free throws because we were missing so many at the beginning of the season.

“I knew at the end of the game, I had to knock those down. They were important.”

Nolan Sexton, who scored seven points in the fourth quarter, said it was a special win.

“Last year against Oak Lawn, we were up seven going into halftime and lost,” he said. “My freshman year, it felt like we kind of got embarrassed by them. They’ve kind of pushed us around in the past, so it feels good to get this win.”

Sulaiman, a Marist transfer and the Spartans’ leading scorer, was out for the final few minutes after suffering an apparent leg injury.

Daily Southtown

Twice-weekly

News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday

Oak Lawn coach Jason Rhodes was hopeful it will not be serious.

On the other hand, he wants his players to do some serious reflecting after the defeat.

“Our team right now is out of sync on both offense and defense,” Rhodes said. “Our guys need to buy in to what we’re selling. If they don’t want to buy in, there are going to be more outcomes like this.”

Cardenas and the Mustangs, meanwhile, are feeling good.

“I knew I could be a good shooter on this team,” Cardenas said. “My confidence was high going in. Now it’s definitely higher. We beat our rivals.

“Now my confidence is at a 10. Maybe an 11.”

Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.