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Sports
Warriors still stumped by Panther defense : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisWarriors still stumped by Panther defense
| In second meeting, OHS' Wilder scores 14 points in WarHawk tournament win
| by Alex Gasick
| 11/29/2012
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When the Oswego girls' basketball team opened their season against Waubonsie Valley on Nov. 13, it took a last minute shot for the Panthers to squeeze by the Warriors for a 37-35 win.
The two teams met again on last Friday at the WarHawk Tournament hosted by Waubonsie Valley and West Aurora. Oswego (3-3, 0-1 Southwest Prairie_Conference) was once again victorious, though a last minute shot was not necessary this time around.
Led by a frantic press, Oswego blew out Waubonsie Valley 50-21.
"We didn't change our strategy too much from when we played them earlier in the season, but we just played a lot better this time out," Oswego head coach Chad Pohlmann said. "The first time we played them we shot 21 percent from the field, and were just real tight since it was the first game of the season."
On the first play of the game, Oswego sophomore Siarra O'Neill drained a three-pointer which gave the Panthers a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game
"Siarra [O'Neill] coming out the first play of the game and hitting that three really just set the tone for us," Pohlmann said. "From there we were able to play pretty good defense and turn them over a lot."
With just 5:29 left in the first quarter, Waubonsie Valley coach David Owles had to call a timeout to calm his frazzled team as Oswego quickly went up 8-2 thanks to several steals which turned into easy layups for the Panthers.
By the end of the first quarter, it was apparent that Waubonsie would be in for a long night as Oswego forced eight turnovers and consistently beat the Warriors to loose balls to take a 17-7 lead.
"The game plan coming in was to force a lot of turnovers, and get some easy baskets, and we did a good job of that," Pohlmann said. "We always like to play pressure defense and I thought tonight we did a great job with the press."
Along with the turnovers Oswego was able to force, Pohlmann was most satisfied by how many loose balls the Panthers beat the Warriors to.
"We want to play as hard as we can every night out, and be the team that's diving after loose balls," Pohlmann said. "Defense is number one in our program. When you get after it on that side of the ball, good things happen."
The second quarter looked very similar to the first, as the Panthers forced another nine turnovers to take a 29-13 lead at halftime.
Along with defense, another trait that stood out for the Panthers was their offensive balance. Five different Oswego players scored in the first half, and eight players scored in the game. Sophomore Amri Wilder led the Panthers with 14 points, while sophomore Jordan Campbell was also in double digits with 12.
"Every game we can have a different leader and have someone different step up," Campbell said. "Everyone individually can be a leader even though we are young."
Like Pohlmann, Campbell noted how much better they have been playing since their season opener, especially their full court defense.
"We've been working on the press a lot, and it really just clicked today the best it has all season," Campbell said. "The first time we played them; we were really working out our kinks, and weren't playing as well as a team. We played a lot more together today, offensively and defensively."
To end the third quarter, Wilder scored on a driving layup that put the Panthers ahead 39-18 and essentially sucked the life out of the Warriors. The Panthers continued to pour it on in the final quarter, winning by 29.
The theme in the second half was the same as the first half as Oswego forced Waubonsie Valley to turn the ball over another 18 times, which totaled 35 for the game.
Moving forward, Pohlmann looks for his young team, which started four sophomores, to improve throughout the season as they continue to mature.
"Every game there are moments that are learning tools for us," Pohlmann said. "There are moments where you can tell we are young, and throw a ball away when we shouldn't but there are also moments we look pretty experienced to. The most important thing for us will be staying mentally focused at all times."
Notes:_On Tuesday, Oswego opened Southwest Prairie Conference play with a 47-40 loss to Romeoville (5-0) at home. Sophomore Erin Sinnott led the Panthers with 14 points while Wilder finished with 10 points. The Panthers will host Plainfield South on Friday at 6:30 p.m. before traveling to Minooka on Tuesday.
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