EDWARDSVILLE – Junior center/forward Ben Akoro Is one of the key pieces for a young O’Fallon Township High boys basketball team.
On Dec. 10 against Edwardsville, He had a big game and was the Panthers’ leading scorer with 16 points in a 57-34 loss.
Akoro is averaging eight points and 10.4 rebounds per game, adding seven assists, three steals, and three blocked shots to his stat line. Although the roster has many juniors and seniors, many of the O’Fallon players don’t have much varsity experience, and as the season progresses, the Panthers hope to build their chemistry, and show improvement.
Akoro stayed active during the Edwardsville game, and when he wasn’t scoring, he was looking to set up his teammates for good shots. He knows it’s always a good feeling to help his teammates, along with his team.
“I just try to draw them to me,” Akoro said, “and once they start focusing on me, once I get going a little bit, I can kick out and dish to my teammates, and create shots for them.”
Akoro knows that the more they work through their problems in practice, the better the team the Panthers will become in 2024.
“We’ll work through it,” Akoro said. “We’ve got some things to work on, collectively as a group. Over time in practice, we still don’t know each other like that, our chemistry is still low. But we’ll come together and figure it out.”
As far as goals and aspirations for himself and O’Fallon, Akoro has one simple goal in mind.
“At least win regionals, and get as far as we can in the playoffs,” he said.
