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Sports
Young cubs : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisYoung cubs
| New team mentality overshadows inexperience for Oswego East
| by Kristin Sharp
| 11/15/2012
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Graduating a large class of senior starters at the end of last season and saying good-bye to the only head coach the Oswego East boys' basketball program signals a new era for the Wolves.
Former assistant coach Ron Murphy moves up the bench to replace Jason Buckley, who is now the athletic director at West Aurora.
Despite the changes, the Wolves' lone returning starter - senior guard CJ Vaughan - is pleased with the new camaraderie on the court.
"This year we will be more as a team. Last year we were more individuals," said Vaughan, a three-year veteran. "So far, chemistry has been going really well. This year, we're going to try doing more stuff as one. Talent-wise, I think we're going to be pretty good this year."
Vaughan is back on the court for his third varsity season after averaging 13.4 points per game with 4.7 rebounds and shooting a team-best 79 percent from the foul line.
"He had some big games this summer," Murphy said of Vaughan. "The other thing we're going to be able to do is we're going to be more balanced in scoring this year, and that's going to take some pressure of him. He's not going to have to go our and score 30. He's going to rebound, defend and get guys in the right spot on the court. He has a remarkably high basketball IQ, and that helps us."
Vaughan will have some help on the court from senior returner Kendall Dorsey, who saw increased minutes in the latter half of the season and played in 23 of the 28 games.
"Kendall played a lot of us, especially down the stretch and really grew as a player," Murphy said. "People are aware of CJ may not be as aware of Kendall. He is an exceptional athlete, and he's explosive. He's really evolved as a basketball player. Day in and day out, he can do more within the game; he's versatile. He can guard a guy on the perimeter, he rebounds the ball well. We're going to need him to do a lot of things."
Oswego East comes off a 14-14 overall record last year and a 6-8 mark in Southwest Prairie Conference play to finish fifth in the team standings. The Wolves graduated All-SPC selection and leading rebounder Kalmon Stokes and leading scorer Kenny Battle Jr., but Murphy credits the Wolves' hard work this preseason to get the team ready for another successful campaign.
"We have kids who work exceptionally hard, and I think the thing we're going to have to hang our hat on is that we work harder than people. We play harder than people," Murphy said. "We're going to have to do the little things that make the difference in close games. To be successful, we have to paly hard and we have to play together. I can't emphasis those two things enough. That's registered with them. We need to play together, and we had a long talk about that."
Defense has been a big focus as the season got underway earlier this month, and after spending the past five seasons working in the boys' basketball program at both the sophomore and varsity levels, Murphy is familiar with the strong fundamental background at Oswego East and will continue to work toward maintaining that high standard of play.
"Some of the things that have been fundamental of our basketball. We're going to continue to emphasize defense," Murphy said. "We're going to open it up a little bit offensively because we don't really have a post player that's a real true back to the basket. We have some post players who are good athletes who do a good job facing up and I think they're going to create some miss-matches.
And so far, players like Vaughan have noticed an increase in intensity with Murphy in charge.
"We work much harder, especially on the defensive end," Vaughan said. "He doesn't like softness. He has everybody in beast mode. His focus is being as one; as a team."
Oswego East will rely on a mix of returning players who saw limited time off the bench, and first-year varsity players moving up from the sophomore team, like Jeremy Mitchell, James Callegari, Mike McAllister and Houston McCullum.
"As far as the new guys go, some of the new guys are old guys," Murphy said. "They may be seniors who didn't get a ton of time on the court and they're going to get some extended time this year. They may not have the experience that some of these other guys do, but they play hard and I think they're going to surprise some people. That's just a product of our personnel one year ago."
"The junior group is nice, but they're going to have to adjust to the speed of basketball at the varsity level. It's always an adjustment for the kids ... They are going to be able to help us at different points of the season and whose roles will grow as the season progresses. We have a sophomore, Houston McCullum, who in a couple of years, I think will be a real good basketball player."
The season begins in the annual Hoops for Healing tournament, and Oswego East will play its first three games at Naperville North, beginning Monday against Andrew at 5:30 p.m. The Wolves will face Naperville North and Benet before crossover play on Nov. 23. Although Oswego East went 3-1 in tournament play last year, an early loss to DeLaSalle put the Wolves in the fifth-place game, where they defeated Geneva.
"I know that's going to be a huge emphasis on everybody," Dorsey said of the opening tournament. "That's definitely something we need to be focused on."
Following tournament play, Oswego East will face its first SPC opponent on Nov. 29, hosting Plainfield East - the defending SPC champion after a perfect 14-0 finish to the 2012-13 season.
The Wolves return to the East Aurora Tournament in late December as well as the Naperville North Shootout. Non-conference play includes Batavia (Jan. 26) and Metea Valley (Feb. 12).
"I think one thing we didn't do last year is we weren't really focused enough before the games," Dorsey said. "That's something that has to change this year if we want to meet our team goals, which is to win regionals and go downstate."
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