One of the top returning Southwest Prairie Conference girls basketball players will enter the season off an injury.
Oswego High School incoming senior forward Paige Harmon broke her foot at the Notre Dame Shootout earlier this summer, but will be back at 100 percent in time for the season in November.
“Paige Harmon was having a terrific summer season before she broke her foot at the Notre Dame Team Camp,” Oswego coach Chad Pohlmann said of the all-SPC performer of a year ago. “She ended up with a fracture in her left foot and will be out for the next five weeks. She has had surgery and is in the process of recovering. Prior to the injury, she was working hard on her game and conditioning. We expect Paige to have a full recovery and be 100 percent by the time the season starts.”
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Incoming sophomores Ameina Green and Kelsey Nelson have also had
productive summers, according to Pohlmann.
“Both girls showed what a difference a year makes,” Pohlmann said. “Swing player Rebecca Anderson also had a terrific summer. Becca was a late season call up as a sophomore and is committed to improving her game.”
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Oswego went 32-8 over the summer at competitions at Notre Dame University, Neuqua Valley, Morris, Illinois Valley Community College and Plainfield Central.
“We were able to get back several players from last year’s team who are now healthy and able to participate,” Pohlmann said of the Panthers, who went 9-14 last season.
Guards Taylor Paisley and Amri Wilder, guard/forward Erin Sinnott and forwards Caeleigh Morton and Jordan Campbell also performed well over the summer.
“I felt our commitment to practice and defense was off the charts,”
Pohlmann said. “The girls really committed themselves to playing some great team defense and really worked hard in practice. For having such a young group of players, I could not have been more pleased with our summer.”
Oswego East went 1-4 at the Neuqua Valley Shootout under new coach Abe Carretto.
“I feel all of them have stepped up and impressed me at many different games,” Carretto said of the Wolves’ summer. “Our shooting, attacking the hoop, and passing have been excellent at times. Defensively, our hands are active and getting a lot of steals and reading passes better, but we need to work on rebounding. Overall, I am pleased with our passing in the open floor and in the half-court game and our pressure defense is getting there.”
Oswego East finished 11-3 in the SPC, tying with Romeoville for second place last season.
Oswego East's Michalek wins award
Oswego East High School’s Ariel Michalek earned 60 percent of the vote to earn the 2011 SPC Report Female Athlete of the Year award. The award will be given annually to the top athlete in the Southwest Prairie Conference.
Michalek, a senior-to-be, won the Class 3A girls cross country state championship in November and the 3,200-meter run at the girls state track and field meet in May.
