Boys Basketball: Oswego East fends off Plainfield East
By Scott Ehling For Sun-Times Media January 25, 2013 11:58PM
Plainfield East's Jordan Reed (11) steals the ball from Oswego East's Manny Contreras (34). | Ray Luna ~ For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 28, 2013 6:44AM
Oswego East used its defensive pressure to spark a 15-7 run over the opening four minutes of the second half en route to a hard-fought 69-64 victory Friday night over host Plainfield East in the Southwest Prairie.
C.J. Vaughn scored a game-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting for Oswego East (8-10, 5-3). Teammates Tyler Ross and Manny Contreras added 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Aaron Jordan led Plainfield East (8-11, 5-3) with 20 points on 7-of-18 shooting, including 4-of-6 three-pointers. Roger Tating added 18 points.
“We know that when we defend well we keep ourselves in ballgames,” Oswego East coach Ron Murphy said.
For the game, Oswego East outrebounded Plainfield East 30-22 and attempted 33 free throws to just 13 for the Bengals.
A Jordan three-pointer gave the Bengals an 8-7 lead with 1:52 left in the opening quarter. Oswego East, however, led 12-8 after one period. A Vaughn jumper with 50 seconds left in the half gave the Wolves a 23-21 halftime lead.
“If my shots aren’t falling, I’m going to try and get my teammates involved. But I felt good. We played hard,” Vaughn said.
A Contreras three-pointer extended the Wolves’ lead to 31-25 with 6:30 remaining in the third period. After four consecutive offensive rebounds on the same possession, a Scooter Smith basket gave Oswego East a 34-25 bulge.
The Oswego East lead grew to as many as 12 points before the Bengals made a surge in the fourth quarter. Tating’s trey made it 60-58 with 1:35 left in the game. Oswego East converted 9-of-12 free throws down the stretch.
“Their (Oswego East) big defensive pressure forced us into some poor decision-making but we battled back to within two but just couldn’t get over the hump,” Plainfield East coach Branden Adkins said.
