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Girls Basketball: Oswego shuts down Rosary
Updated: December 12, 2011 9:41PM
Oswego girls basketball coach Chad Pohlmann has been trying to teach his young, injury-riddled squad how he expects his team to play defense all season long.
In Monday’s 50-35 win over Rosary at the Oswego Holiday Classic, the Panthers seemed to get the message.
Oswego held Rosary scoreless until the 7:04 mark of the second quarter — building a lead that stretched to 35-7 in the third quarter — and cruised to the win.
“We have a real young team,” Pohlmann said. “They’re starting to learn how we teach defense and they’re starting to gain confidence. I was really happy with our intensity and our focus. It seemed like we wanted it more and it really set the tone for the rest of the game. They’re getting it.”
Already without Western Illinois-bound four-year starter Paige Harmon and sophomore Amina Green due to injury, the Panthers (6-6) were dealt another blow before the game. Sophomore Kelsey Nelson will be lost until January at the earliest with a stress fracture in her thigh.
Sophomore Caeleigh Morton took up the slack offensively in the post. She scored eight of her game-high 16 points as part of the Panthers’ 35-7 start to the game. Amri Wilder (13 points) and Jordan Campbell (12 points) also reached double digits for Oswego.
“It’s definitely a process,” Pohlmann said. “Roles will be defined now, and they’ll be redefined when we get Paige and Amina back. It’s been fun. The girls have a real positive attitude.”
Coming off a 22-point win over Glenbard East Saturday, Rosary coach Dave Beebe was exasperated after watching his Royals (4-7) go scoreless in the first quarter. He said he’s never had a team go scoreless in any quarter in his tenure at Rosary.
“It makes it hard,” Beebe said. “It just looked like we were sleepwalking. We put ourselves in a hole, big time. The effort was there in the second half, but it was a little too late. It’s going to be hard to come back against anybody like that.”
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