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Sports
Title hopes slip away in third quarter : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisTitle hopes slip away in third quarter
| Oswego East girls fall to Lemont in semifinal game
| by Kristin Sharp
| 12/31/2009
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The first eight minutes of the Wolves Winter Classic semifinal game belonged to Oswego East.
But Lemont took control of the next 16 minutes and the second-seeded
Indians defeated the Wolves 49-38 on Tuesday night.
Oswego East (11-4), the No. 3 seed, was scheduled to face South Elgin in the third-place game Wednesday while Lemont moved on to the title game against West Chicago. Results were unavailable at press time.
"This is a huge game," Oswego East head coach Nate Eimer said of the third-place contest. "It's the biggest game of the year for us. We have to bounce back. The ultimate goal is to win the conference championship and do well in the postseason and this all a journey to get there."
On Tuesday night, Oswego East got onto the scoreboard with senior guard Jourdan Jackson's lay-in, and the Wolves dominated the opening quarter from there.
Lemont committed eight turnovers and Oswego East capitalized on the opportunities. Senior forward Jasmine Davis' steal turned into a field goal on the opposite end of the court with 3:32 on the clock, and senior guard Marissa Craft (9 points, 7 rebounds) scored the next two points as the Wolves enjoyed a 10-0 lead at the end of the opening period.
But Lemont was ready to play in the second quarter, scoring the first four baskets before a pair of free throws tied the game at 10 with 4:51 remaining.
Craft's jumper was followed up by junior forward Kayla Boers' jump shot for a brief 15-12 lead, but Lemont junior Amy Skowronski (13 points) hit a triple and narrowed the Wolves' lead to 17-15 at halftime.
"They're a good basketball team. I think we threw a big punch early and they came back," Eimer said. "We always talk about the third quarter being the biggest quarter and they beat us in the third quarter. That was really the story of the game."
Lemont outscored Oswego East 17-5 in the third quarter, holding the Wolves to just two field goals - a triple by Jackson with 2:10 on the clock and a basket from junior guard Brittney Glende just 30 seconds later.
"Offensively we talked a lot about making some adjustments, but defensively we just talked about keeping the pace up and they negated that in the third quarter. We did not keep the tempo up and that was really the difference in the game," Eimer said.
Craft sank a three-point basket early in the fourth quarter to cut the Wolves' deficit to eight (33-25), but she picked up her fourth foul of the game and took a seat on the bench. Glende completed a three-point play for a 35-28 game, but she too was whistled for her fourth foul and the Wolves became limited in their player rotation with Glende and Craft on the bench. Glende and Jackson would foul out of the game in the closing minute.
Jackson and Boers scored consecutive baskets for the Wolves for a 39-32 game with 4:09 to play, but that was as close as Oswego East could get to Lemont on the scoreboard.
Lemont would keep its seven-point lead after senior Kyla Moore (9 points, 9 assists) was good for two more points. She added two more free throws with 38 seconds to play, finishing 5-for-6 at the foul line.
"We were playing like ourselves and then we fell off team ball," Moore said. "We know they were better at half-court ball and we were better at fast-paced and we started playing at their pace, slowing down and playing as individuals instead of as a team."
Lemont senior Alex Prasauskas led all scorers with 18 points, shooting 10-for-10 at the free-throw line - all in the second half of play.
"I think it's pretty simple for us. When we're playing defense and playing with a lot of energy, we play well. When we start to slack off, we fall apart. Offensively, we're limited sometimes. We just have not shot the ball well all year. We have to have that kind of intensity and tempo on defense," Eimer said.
Notes: Oswego East opened tournament play last Saturday with a 43-31 win over Kaneland. Jackson led all scorers with 14 points and added nine rebounds and three steals. Davis scored seven points in addition to eight rebounds while Moore had nine points and five assists.
The Wolves defeated Andrew 48-25 in the second round of championship play on Monday as Jackson scored a game-high 25 points and hauled in five boards. Craft had six rebounds and three steals, Davis scored 10 points and Moore had six rebounds and six assists.
"The tournament has been real good. I thought Kaneland played pretty well and Andrew was the best game we played all year. Tonight we were good at points, but when you go against a good team we have to be good for four quarters," Eimer said.
Following the conclusion of the Wolves Winter Classic, Oswego East returns to the court next Tuesday, hosting Plainfield Central in Southwest Prairie Conference action at 7 p.m. The Wolves defeated the Wildcats 72-35 in the first meeting on Dec. 8.
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