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Sports
Postseason woes continue : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisPostseason woes continue
| Oswego East girls' season cut short by overtime loss
| by Kristin Sharp
| 2/18/2010
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Scoring just two field goals in the first quarter of play, the Oswego East girls' basketball team appeared to be fighting a losing battle against West Aurora.
Despite their offensive woes Tuesday night in the Class 4A West Aurora Regional semifinal, the Wolves (19-9, 11-3) never trailed by more than six points in the game.
Oswego East battled back in the second half, and sophomore guard Arneasa Blair hit the game-tying shot at the end of regulation, knotting the score at 49, but the Wolves eventually dropped a 58-55 game in overtime to end their season.
Oswego East was aiming for its first-ever appearance in a regional final, but the loss moves the Wolves to a 1-5 mark in the postseason in its five-year history.
"These seniors have set a precedence in our program. Every year we want to be battling for a regional championship and we just have to find a way to get over the hump," Oswego East head coach Nate Eimer said. "Maybe it's a couple more sprints in the summertime, a couple more days playing together - we have to find a way to get it done. We're a lot closer now than we were last year and we're a heckuva lot closer than we were two years ago."
West Aurora, seeded No. 12 in the Oswego East Sectional, advances to Thursday night's regional final against No. 2 Waubonsie Valley, winner of a 52-36 game against Lockport Twp, in the earlier semifinal Tuesday night.
Oswego East got out to a strong start in overtime with senior forward Jasmine Davis (12 points) and senior guard Jourdan Jackson (17 points) scoring field goals to put the Wolves ahead 53-52.
The Wolves called a timeout with 1:23 on the clock, but a travel violation, two missed shots and a foul stalled Oswego East's progress. West Aurora senior guard Devin Vaughn made two at the foul line to help the Blackhawks take a 56-53 lead and Davis brought the Wolves back within one point with her layup.
West Aurora made one more at the charity stripe for a two-point lead, and with just 1.3 seconds to play Davis was fouled. Despite shooting 4-for-4 at the line in the fourth quarter, she missed both attempts, and Jackson was called for her fourth foul of the game on the rebound attempt.
Blackhawks senior forward Kiara Towles went 1-for-2 to seal her team's two-point victory.
"I wouldn't trade it for anything," Eimer said. "I still want Jasmine at the line tomorrow. Thursday night if we're in the regional final. She's been the backbone of our program for four years and it just wasn't her day. The ball was just a bit off to the left."
Despite struggling from the opening tip, Oswego East only trailed 9-7 at the end of the first quarter thanks to Jackson's three-point shot at the buzzer, but the Wolves turned the ball over four times and failed to convert on seven shot attempts in the first eight minutes.
Trailing 9-2, junior forward Kayla Boers made two at the foul line and junior guard Brittany Glende forced a jump ball with five seconds on the clock, giving possession to Oswego East. Jackson scored her trey on that possession to cut West Aurora's lead to two, 9-7.
"Nerves. I think we were just a little nervous. It was a big night and we had lot of fans and a lot of great support," Eimer said. "I think the girls were a little nervous and once they settled down they were fine. We finally started to find our groove and I wish we could have found it a little earlier and we might have really had something. But overall it was a great season."
West Aurora's biggest lead of the first half came early in the third quarter when Vaughn's basket created a 13-7 Blackhawks' lead.
"We really studied them and prepared the girls for them," West Aurora head coach Connie Siljendahl said. "They're an awesome team and I felt like we really would match up well with them. Some of our taller players struggled, but Kiara Towels (19 points) and Devin Vaughn (14 points) stepped up and controlled the game really well. They were very patient on offense and moved the ball well."
Oswego East would not score until the 3:20 mark when senior guard Marissa Craft hit a three-point basket from the right wing. The basket gave the Wolves a spark and junior forward Amera George came up with a putback soon after.
Jackson's free throw tied the game at 15, and Glende's long-range shot with 35 seconds on the clock gave the Wolves their first lead of the game, 18-17. But Towles scored the final four points of the first half to give West Aurora a 21-18 halftime lead.
Glende scored another trey early in the second half, but West Aurora answered with four more points for a 27-21 lead. Eimer called a full timeout to regroup the Wolves, and it worked.
Blair (8 points) scored two consecutive field goals out of the break, Jackson followed with a jumper at the 3:00 mark and made one tat the foul line 57 seconds later to create a one-point game (29-28) with 2:04 to play in the third quarter.
Jackson came up with a big steal that set up Craft's second three-pointer of the game, and George's basket with 42 seconds left gave Oswego East the lead, 33-32.
The lead would seesaw until the end of regulation. Jackson's three-point play kept the Wolves in control of the lead, but West Aurora junior guard Brieanna Jones scored five quick points for a 41-40 game.
Davis was good for four points late in the fourth quarter and Oswego East took a timeout with a 45-43 lead and 2:22 to play in regulation. West Aurora tied the game at 47 points and took a two-point lead with seconds to go, but Blair's jump shot was good at the buzzer to force overtime.
"These seniors gave it everything they had. It was fun to coach; it had to be fun to watch," Eimer said. "Both teams, senior-wise, were tremendous. Vaughn made some tough shots. It was an awesome game. We just didn't come out on top."
Notes: Oswego East won its final Southwest Prairie Conference game of the season last Thursday, defeating Plainfield South 66-36 to finish second in the league standings. Jackson had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead the Wolves while Glende scored 14 and Blair added 12 in the winning effort.
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