Former Evergreen Park coach Pat Flannigan and Oak Lawn coach Jason Rhodes saw a rivalry developing between their two schools.
And every rivalry needs a name, so the Scaduto Series was born.
“It’s a rivalry that developed over time,” Rhodes said. “Sometimes it had some negativity associated so we wanted something that was positive and a point of pride for both schools.”
The series is named after the Scaduto family, which has ties to both schools. Len Scaduto is the all-time boys basketball wins leader at Oak Lawn and had a second-place finish at state in 1971. His son, Bruce, is an Oak Lawn graduate and coached both boys and girls basketball at Evergreen Park.
They use the #GrabTheWheel hashtag in reference to the old Scaduto Driving School that was family-owned and operated.
In the latest installment of the series, Oak Lawn started on a 22-0 run and coasted to an 83-60 win at Evergreen Park on Jan. 23.
Junior guard Marc Harvey scored 15 points for the Spartans (15-6, 6-1 South Suburban Red), including two 3-pointers. He also grabbed three rebounds and had a steal.
“When I am on the court, I go into straight attack mode and do everything to get the dub,” Harvey said.
Harvey is playing first full season at the varsity level for Oak Lawn. Last year, he was brought up around the winter break but saw minimal minutes.
“It’s the competitor in me,” Harvey said. “I put in a lot of work and have continued to get up shots in the gym. My coaches push us to work on things we need to get better so we can keep beating teams.”
Rhodes was familiar with Harvey as the two met when Harvey was at Simmons Junior High. Harvey did not make it to Oak Lawn initially as his family moved his freshman year and then moved right back.
“It’s been amazing to see how much he’s grown as a player,” Rhodes said. “When I first met him, he was not nearly as skilled as he is now. His footwork has gotten really, really good. And obviously he’s shooting the ball.”
Other top scorers for Oak Lawn were Donte Mongomery with a game-high 26 points and Jack Dempsey with 15 points.
Oak Lawn has won six of the eight matchups since the birth of the Scaduto Series.