Glory Days
Unusual Circumstances Not Enough to Spoil Oak Forest's Special Basketball Season in 1987
Reliving the Glory Days: All-stater Larry Gorman led the Bengals to their first boys basketball state appearance.
Oak Forest graduate Larry Gorman still wonders if his high school career could’ve ended differently nearly 25 years later. In the midst of a history-making season in 1987, Oak Forest boys basketball coach Ken Connor was suspended for the remainder of the year just a week before the postseason began by then-principal Edward Roberts for what he called conduct detrimental to the overall athletic program. The Bengals still managed to earn the program’s first and only state berth before losing to eventual champion East St. Louis Lincoln 64-58 in the quarterfinals. Oak Forest (28-3) actually led 24-6 after one quarter and 32-16 midway through the second quarter before the Tigers rallied for the win and went on to capture the first of two …
Alan Vanderbilt
1:00 pm on Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Denman had to step in at Hilcrest in 1984 when Bob Fredrick lost control of his team at the team hotel during a christmas tourney in Pekin. Frederick was suspened from coaching for ten days, four players were dismissed from team. more ›