Girls Basketball: Oswego East one game away from perfect finish

The Oswego East girls' basketball program has never celebrated an undefeated Southwest Prairie Conference season, but the Wolves took another step closer to that goal on Friday night with a 63-37 win over visiting Oswego.

The Wolves can complete their 14-0 run through the league on Tuesday when Oswego East hosts Plainfield Central in the regular season finale and gain valuable momentum heading into the postseason.

"We have the title now, but for them they just want to keep winning," Oswego East head coach Abe Carretto said. "There's something about this team; they get after it when they need to. They now want to sweep it all."

Oswego East (23-2, 13-0 SPC) received its highest playoff seed in school history, seeded second behind Class 4A defending state champion Benet Academy. The postseason begins Feb. 16 in the Minooka Regional, with the Wolves facing the winner of the play-in game between No. 15 Metea Valley and No. 18 Joliet West.

"They're excited. It's an improvement from last year and this time we just have to make sure we go in and make sure we do what we're supposed to do and get things done," Carretto said.

On Friday, Oswego (4-24, 2-11) traveled to Oswego East looking for improvement after a 45-point loss in mid-December and nearly cut that deficit in half against a talented Wolves' roster.

Oswego East's Ty Battle had an explosive first quarter, scoring 18 points in the first eight minutes to help the Wolves to a 23-8 lead. Oswego's Kira Sneed came off the bench to score five points for the Panthers, but Oswego East's Jada Boatright also entered the game and poured in six quick points to build a 31-13 lead. Jesinde Thomas hit a three-pointer for Oswego East late in the first half and the Wolves led 38-18 at intermission.

Thomas scored five straight in the third quarter for a 46-25 game, and Sydney Schultz completed a three-point play in the fourth quarter to help extend the Wolves' advantage, 61-35 before the starters exited the game for Oswego East. Boatright scored all 22 of her game-high points in the first half, with Thomas scoring 12 and Boatright adding 11, and all three had 10 rebounds each.

Gemma Keegan led Oswego with 10 points, including six in the second half.

"They have so many weapons, and for their sake I hope they can get to Benet because I can see them going real far," Oswego head coach Dave Beebe said. "If we're competitive and we can show the second time around that we've improved and we're getting better, that's all I'm asking right now. When we get in the playoffs, anything can happen."

Oswego received the No. 21 seed and will face No. 12 Naperville North in the Yorkville Regional play-in game on Feb. 15, with the winner moving on to face No. 5 Neuqua Valley. The host Foxes are the highest seed in the bracket at No. 4.

"I'm just happy we don't have to play Oswego East again," Beebe said. "You throw the records out, and we think we have a realistic chance to win a game or two if we play four quarters."