It was a move Shepard’s Aaron Arrambide didn’t want to make.
He gave up playing AAU basketball in the summer.
The 6-foot-3 forward had some troubles with his knee and thought that taking the summer off was the wisest decision.
“I sprained my knee and it got irritated and I sat out a couple of months,” Arrambide said. “It was a tough decision. I wanted to play but I couldn’t.
“I took the better route.”
Losing the summer also was a buzzkill for recruiting and he is hoping to catch the attention of college coaches during his senior season with the Astros.
He has some fresh film to show them as he put on a big performance on Dec. 12.
After a two-point first quarter, Arrambide scored 18 in the final three to finish with 20 points in the Astros’ 55-50 home loss to Lemont in a South Suburban crossover game.
Aurion Lee-Barnes added 18 points off the bench, including nine in the fourth quarter, for the Astros (4-4, 2-1).
Zane Schneider had 20 points for Lemont (6-1, 4-0), including a deep buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the third quarter to put his team ahead 41-37.
Meanwhile, Shepard coach Corey Wolf said that college should be taking a look at Arrambide.
“Aaron is probably one of our better players and has been a joy to coach,” Wolf said. “He’s a tremendous player with great offensive talent.
“I know there are a lot of scouting reports on him (from opponents) and we as coaches need to do a better job to get him into a better position to score.”
Arrambide is hoping this is not the end of the line for him in basketball. He has been playing since third grade and has grown to love the sport.
“I love all of the contacts I have made,” he said. “Not only just with the players, but with the coaches as well.”
The Lemont game had a chance to get away from the Astros twice as they were down 28-21 in the closing minute of the first half and 38-30 in the third quarter.
Still, Shepard kept coming back and took a 46-45 lead with 3:35 left in the game on Lee-Barnes’ 3-pointer. But Lemont was able to retake the lead and keep it.
“We try to tell them, ‘Don’t get too high and don’t get too low,’’’ Wolf said. “I’m proud of our effort. Obviously, there are some things we could have done better to pull it out.
“But if this is how we are going to play the rest of the season, I think we’re going to be in a good spot.”