Boys Basketball: Ray J Dennis, Wolves get defensive, charge past Naperville North

OSWEGO – Ray J Dennis walked over to the Oswego East bench, and engaged in a brief conversation with his coach.

The debate was what to do with Naperville North's Tom Welch, a Loyola recruit.

Dennis provided the answer.

"I asked for the matchup," said Dennis, the Wolves' 6-foot-2 senior guard. "They trusted me, they let me do it. We came out with the win."

Dennis, despite giving away five inches to the 6-foot-7 Welch when, didn't back down. The Wolves, collectively, followed his lead.

Oswego East held Naperville North scoreless for six-plus minutes in the fourth quarter to come away with a 48-40 win at the Hoops for Healing Tournament in Oswego.

The Wolves will play West Aurora, which held on to beat Oswego 69-66, in the championship game at 7:15 p.m. Friday.

Dennis, a Boise State recruit, scored 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting, and the Wolves (3-0) used a 15-0 run to erase what was a 36-31 Huskies' lead the first minute of the fourth quarter.

Kam Battle added nine points and eight rebounds, Demari Grant had six points and six assists and Sam Schultz nine points and six rebounds. Welch scored 21 for Naperville North (2-1), but had just two in the fourth quarter.

"Defensively, proud of that," Wolves coach Ryan Velasquez said. "We held them to nine points in the third quarter and six in the fourth. I can live with that. Our defense picked up and our offense fed off that."

Welch is the lone returning starter off Naperville North's regional champion last year. He's clearly the Huskies' focal point.

He scored 35 points in the Huskies' opener, a double overtime win over Hinsdale Central, and has averaged 26 through three games. Welch scored nine points in the second quarter Wednesday, and his 3-pointer put Naperville North up 28-24, a lead that ballooned to 32-24.

Welch scored on a lob right after Dennis switched onto him midway through the third quarter, but had zero points in the halfcourt the entire fourth quarter. Partly plagued by foul trouble, he took just two shots.

Dennis fronted him in the post, with backside help. On a few occasions he knocked away lobs. Dennis never stopped jockeying for position in the lane.

"I was fine with it," Dennis said of playing a guy five inches taller. "It's a matter of wanting to win, being a competitor."

"Ray J, he won't back down from anybody," Velasquez said. "Welch is a really good basketball player. We thought, it can't hurt to see what will happen."

Dennis, diving for a loose ball with Welch, did hobble off the court briefly with a calf cramp, but was right back in after a timeout.

And no worse for wear.

He promptly buried a corner 3-pointer, his fifth of the game, to tie it 36-36. Grant poked away a post feed, leading to a Battle fast break basket for the lead, and the Wolves never looked back.

"I took the challenge of matching up on Tom," said Dennis, 5-for-8 from 3-point range. "He's a great player. We played great team defense, everybody was helping me on the back side. It was definitely a collective effort."

In the nightcap, a furious Oswego rally fell just short.

The Panthers trailed 29-18 at halftime, by 14 late in the third quarter and 49-39 after three quarters.

Oswego, though, tied it on four occasions in a frenetic fourth quarter. The third time came on Joey Niesman's gutsy pull-up 3-pointer with 1:03 left, the last time at 66-66 on Jack Kahoun's baseline drive with 30 seconds left.

Marquise Walker, a Curie transfer who scored a game-high 24 points, gave West Aurora (3-0) the lead for good on a second-chance layup with 13 seconds left.

Kahoun, who scored 35 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer in Oswego's win over Neuqua Valley Tuesday, missed a three for the win in the final seconds.

"Guts. Our kids showed a lot of guts," Oswego coach Chad Pohlmann said. "Tough first half, they were the aggressors, but we came back."

Dylan Engler scored 22 points and Jacob Wayne 11 for Oswego (2-1). Kahoun and Niesman each had 10.

Oswego shot 25 percent in the first half (7-for-28), 61 percent (17-for-28) in the second half. The catalyst, though, was the Panthers' fullcourt pressure that forced West Aurora into 18 turnovers, which Oswego scored 14 points off of.

"We went to our fullcourt man, and we gave them some problems," Pohlmann said. "Our offense fed off of our defense. That's the way we play."