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Sports
Wolves pull away for title : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisWolves pull away for title
| Defense comes through with key steals as Oswego East celebrates SPC championship
| by Matt Daniels
| 3/4/2010
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Senior Scott Vachon turned, aimed and was about to release one of his patented baseline jump shots he has perfected during his four-year varsity career at Plainfield North.
But Oswego East junior guard Wesley Brooks was in the way.
Brooks, at 5 feet, 8 inches and 150 pounds, was giving up 10 inches and 100 pounds to Vachon, who at 6-6 and 250 pounds is one of the premier centers in the Southwest Prairie Conference.
It didn't matter to Brooks, who pulled the ball out of Vachon's hands and took off dribbling the ball down court at full speed. Brooks was fouled on his layup attempt, but made both free throws to extend Oswego East's lead.
That example of defensive tenacity was a main reason Oswego East came away with a 69-55 win last Thursday at Plainfield North.
The win not only added to Oswego East's 14-game winning streak before the start of the postseason, but it also earned the Wolves (22-4, 13-1 SPC) the program's second SPC regular season championship in the four years the league has existed.
"It means everything," Oswego East senior guard Jordon Harris said about the conference championship. "We worked hard for this and we finally got it. I'm just mad it's on a Thursday. If it was on a Friday, we could go to like Buffalo Wild Wings, and hang out all night."
Harris and company could possibly spend this upcoming Friday deep into the night celebrating if the Wolves keep playing the way they have in 2010. Oswego East - the fifth seed in the Class 4A Waubonsie Valley Regional - was scheduled to face No. 12 Batavia at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night in a regional semifinal. Results of that game were unavailable at press time, but if Oswego East knocked off the Bulldogs, the Wolves would meet No. 13 West Aurora at 7:30 p.m. this Friday in the regional championship for a spot in next week's Neuqua Valley Sectional. West Aurora pulled off a surprising 46-40 win against No. 4 Naperville North on Tuesday.
"Our success has been great for our school," Oswego East head coach Jason Buckley said. "We've had an unbelievable following this year. Kids in class all day (are) talking about the game. Usually they're talking about boyfriends and girlfriends, but now they're talking about 'Well, coach, how are we going to defend so and so.' They're trying to get a scouting report on what's going on and I'm trying to focus them back on the class work. But it's fun. It's certainly a good problem to have."
The Wolves defense certainly gave Plainfield North's offense problems last Thursday. Both teams struggled at times to control the ball, but the Wolves forced the Tigers (12-14, 8-6) into 28 turnovers, 14 in each half. Oswego East stole the ball away from Plainfield North on four straight trips down the court midway through the third quarter to push its lead to double digits.
"A lot of ball pressure," said Johnny Savu, Oswego East's senior forward who came up with two of the steals. "Buckley was really preaching it, and we just listened to him and carried out what we needed to do."
Brooks' steal was the final one during that time frame, and the Wolves' point guard said he saw the play developing.
"I was on the help line, the ball was on the other side of the court," Brooks said. "I just saw them pass it and saw the opportunity and tried to convert on it. (I) kind of just got a better grip of it I guess. I just ripped it away."
After Brooks' two free throws with 3:26 left in the third quarter put Oswego East up 40-27, the Tigers did not pose much of a threat the rest of the way. The closest Plainfield North would cut its deficit was to nine on two separate occasions - 40-31 with 2:39 remaining in the third quarter and 60-51 with 2:22 left in the game.
(Plainfield North) got in our face (and) they had some hard fouls," Buckley said. "Our guys really just responded and didn't worry about any of that stuff. They just stepped up to the free throw line and knocked down free throws."
Oswego East's solid free throw shooting on the night - 21-of-25 for 84 percent - was evident in the fourth quarter, when Brooks, Harris, junior forward Sean Gant and junior forward Marcus Jones combined to make 10-of-11 from the free throw line.
Harris was almost right on in regards to his scoring average last Thursday. Coming into at 29 points per game, the senior guard put down 30 points on the Tigers (12-15, 8-6), with several Division I colleges and recruiting analysts on hand to watch him.
"My teammates really helped me out with that," Harris said. "I knew scouts were coming to see me perform. The other team's not going to let me score 30 every night. They're going to play aggressive so when we've got other people stepping up, it opens me right back up."
Harris connected on four three-pointers, but it was his drives to the basket late that helped the Wolves come away with the win. Oswego East led 49-39 with 7:39 left after Vachon (19 points) scored inside, but Harris responded with a baseline drive 18 seconds later to put the Wolves up 51-39. Harris was at it again on the baseline, producing two well-executed crossover dribbles to free himself up for another layup around the rim with 6:15 left that pushed Oswego East's lead to 53-41.
"He just made some unbelievable moves under the bucket," Buckley said. "He's got the best post moves of anybody we've got. He's just so crafty under there and finds a way to score on anybody."
Harris then capped off Oswego East's mini 6-0 run with a drive straight down the lane, and gave the Wolves a 57-41 advantage with 5:01 left.
"Really, my shot wasn't falling so I had to go somewhere else," Harris said. "Wesley stepped up, had a big night again and I think that's what started our offense and our defense."
Like Harris said, Brooks again came through with a strong game, pouring in 21 points on a variety of drives to the baskets and solid free throw shooting while he dished out four assists, grabbed four rebounds and made two steals. Harris also got into the defensive action, making three steals while grabbing three rebounds.
Gant led all Wolves with four steals while also dropping in seven points and grabbing six rebounds while Jones came through with seven points and five rebounds off the bench.
"(You) just try to keep working hard and hustling to get steals," Gant said. "Just keep your active hands and it gets them back on their heels."
The Wolves finished 22-of-51 (43 percent) from the field, including 4-of-12 (33 percent) from three-point range, but will need to limit the 22 turnovers they committed once the postseason starts.
Plainfield North was 22-of-48 (46 percent) from the floor, 8-of-12 (67 percent) from the free throw line and 3-of-13 (23 percent) from three-point range. Plainfield North senior forward Devonta Davis added 13 points, but a key for Oswego East was containing junior guard Jack Krieger and senior guard Ben Daniel. During the first meeting between the two schools on Jan. 22, those two combined for 38 points. Last Thursday, Krieger and Daniel only combined for 10 points.
"We kind of scouted them, we knew a little bit of their plays (and) we ran it in practice," Harris said. "We knew where we had to go."
Oswego East players were also proud of the fact last Thursday that the Wolves came back to win their final 13 league games after starting conference play with an 82-78 double overtime loss against Oswego on Dec. 5. That fact, along with the Wolves sophomore and freshman programs also coming away with conference championships, certainly bodes well for the program's future.
"It feels great," Savu said. "I'm just a little star struck right now. It's been a great season. We've got a lot of momentum going into next week."
•Notes: At the end of last season, the only Division I school that had really taken an active interest in Harris was Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, which is in the process of making the jump from Division II to Division I. But much has changed in less than a year.
The latest schools that entered the Harris recruiting fray last week were Texas A&M, Illinois State and Illinois. Illinois sent assistant coach Jerrance Howard to last Thursday's game, while Illinois State had two assistant coaches along with head coach Tim Jankovich in attendance. Virginia Tech and Boston College are some of the higher-profile schools that have shown an interest in Harris, while Loyola of Chicago, Valparaiso, Ball State, North Dakota State, New Mexico State and Wichita State have also inquired about Harris' availability for next fall.
"I think he's handling it very well," Buckley said. "I know he's probably a little tired from it because it's an exhausting process. When you're trying to figure out your future and it changes almost on a daily basis, he's handling it better than I think most kids would."
While most seniors that are Division I prospects have signed a letter of intent or given a verbal commitment to the school of their choice, Harris is still undecided, but has until mid-May to make a decision.
And is Harris any closer to making a selection?
"I really don't know right now," he said last Thursday.
-Buckley said he received a congratulatory text message from Oswego head coach Kevin Schnable shortly after the conclusion of last Thursday's game. Schnable's Panthers needed Oswego East to lose in order to share a piece of the SPC regular season title. With Oswego East's win, Oswego finished second in the league standings to the Wolves.
"I told him 'Thank you' and also 'Sorry,'" Buckley said with a laugh. "Kevin and I are friends and we've been friends a long time. Really, a sign of class and I really appreciated that. He knows what goes into getting that done and it's tough. We've been on that end of it too, where you come up a game short, and that's frustrating. They've got a lot bigger and better things ahead. Hopefully for them, it's a trip to Peoria again."
-Should Oswego East make its way out of the Waubonsie Valley Regional, the Wolves will play the winner of the Willowbrook Regional at 7:30 p.m. next Tuesday in a Neuqua Valley Sectional semifinal. The Willowbrook Regional features the sectional's top seed in Glenbard East, and Glenbard East will play this Friday for the regional championship against either No. 8 Wheaton Warrenville South or No. 9 Bolingbrook. Those two teams met on Wednesday night, but results were not available at press time.
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