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Sports

Boys Basketball: Big 3rd Quarter Helps Oswego East Edge Minooka

Oswego East 35, Minooka 32. Wolves use 18-6 run to pull out defensive battle with Indians.

 

The Hot Read: Visiting Minooka, which is making a habit of scaring teams with better records, slowed the pace Friday and held Oswego East to just four points in the first quarter and 12 for the half. But the Wolves then scored four three-pointers – two from senior Adam Reaves — in third quarter, which ended with the hosts on top 30-24. The Indians then made things interesting in the final quarter but came up short when Darrin Myers’ three-point attempt to tie the game at the buzzer was off target and East’s C.J. Vaughan secured the ball as time expired.

Patch’s MVP: Oswego East’s Sean Gant (nine points, five rebounds, two steals). On a night when no Wolves player scored in double figures, Grant led the way including five points in the critical third quarter. He was second on the team with five rebounds.

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Key stats: Points were at a premium but Oswego East shot better from beyond the arc (5-for-13 for 38 percent) then from inside the line (8-for-25 for 32 percent) with four of the long-range shots falling in the third quarter when Oswego erased an 18-12 deficit to take a 30-24 lead.

The Wolves almost let the game get away late after making just 4 of 13 free throws, compared to 7-for-9 for the Indians. Minooka had seven turnovers in that third quarter while Oswego East had just 11 for the night.

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Oswego’s leaders: Sean Gant. Wesley Brooks (five points, three assists, three rebounds). Marcus Jones (five points, two rebounds). Kalmon Stokes (three points, seven rebounds,  two steals).

Minooka's leaders: Lavell Dean (12 points, six rebounds, two steals, two assists). Adam Reynolds (six points, 10 rebounds, two assists). Darrin Myers (seven points, three rebounds).

Quotable:  Wolves coach Jason Buckley on the sluggish win: “We found a way to win. At the end of day we leave with a victory and I thought we played pretty good defense.”

Indians’ coach Scott Tanaka on yet another tough loss: “We’re getting better game by game and my heart goes out to these kids. They deserve to be rewarded with (more) wins.”

Team records: Oswego East, 15-10, 7-6 in the Southwest Prairie Conference. Minooka, 9-16,  2-8 in conference.

What’s next: Oswego East closes out the regular season with a conference game at Plainfield East on Thursday night and opens regional play the following week. Minooka has a 4 p.m. game Saturday at home against Plainfield South.

 

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