Evergreen Park’s Keshaun Vaval said he grew up in Chicago with a love for basketball.

The junior guard couldn’t get enough of it. Gyms, playgrounds — you name it.

“Anywhere there was a court, I wanted to play,” he said.

Vaval was guided by his father, Rashod, who played for Hales Franciscan and was a sophomore on the team that won a Class A state championship in 2005.

“I’ve been playing since I was 3,” Keshaun said. “My pops and my cousins and brothers … I’m from the hood, man. I would see it and I would love it. I felt like I would be doing this for a very long time.

“I can make a real career out of this.”

So far, so good as far as Mustangs fans are concerned. Vaval scored 19 points Thursday night to help short-handed Evergreen Park beat host Tinley Park 55-51 in a South Suburban Conference crossover.

Sophomore guard Lonnie Mosley supported Vaval by scoring 15 points, including nine in the second half. Senior forward Jack Hughes pulled down 11 rebounds off the bench.

The Mustangs (5-0, 1-0 SSC Red) were missing three starters — senior guard Nolan Sexton with an injury and senior guard Tre Dowdell and senior forward Billy Buchanan to illness.

Tinley (0-4, 0-1 SSC Blue) was led by Deshawn Allen and Nolan Maciejewski with 13 points apiece. Kendall Webb had 11 rebounds as the Titans held a massive 50-33 edge on the boards.

The 6-foot-1 Vaval, a transfer from Marist, blended 3-point baskets and layups to help the cause after Tinley burst out of the gate for a 15-3 lead.

But the Mustangs withstood that and forced a 23-23 tie on Hughes’ buzzer-beater at halftime, then survived a back-and-forth second half.

“We have some dawgs on this team,” Vaval said. “When we get back healthy, the future is bright.”

Mosley is also confident. He confirmed Vaval’s play to start the season is one of the reasons.

“He’s a good point guard and gets us going,” Mosley said of Vaval. “He’s also a good defender. He’s a great player.”

Evergreen Park coach Jim Sexton has been impressed with Vaval’s play in the early going. Vaval made the all-tournament team during Thanksgiving at Lisle, which the Mustangs won.

“Keshaun does a good job running things and he’s a playmaker, too,” Jim Sexton said. “He can shoot from the outside, but he can also score on all levels.

“Sometimes, he gets a little frustrated going into the paint and draws a lot of white shirts, but he finishes strong and can do a lot of good things for us on defense.”

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Tinley lost three games at the Quincy Thanksgiving Tournament and hoped the experience of playing some top-flight teams would lead to improvement.

Things looked pretty good for the Titans when they took the 12-point lead, but a breakdown followed.

“I thought we played a very good first quarter and then, to be honest with you, we got into some selfish basketball,” Tinley coach DJ Brown said. “We had a lot of guys taking me-first shots as opposed to doing what got us to a 12-point lead.”

On the flip side, Mosley was encouraged the Mustangs didn’t fold after the initial onslaught.

“You can’t get down on yourself or overthink,” said Mosley, who received valuable playing time on the varsity last season. “We’ve been down before. We just step our game up.”

“We have great team depth,” Vaval said. “We all can play. It’s not just one or two people. We all can contribute to the game, and even if we’re down 15-3, we know we can pick up the pace.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.