Boys Basketball notes: Oswego East’s Ryan Johnson a winning player who makes shots – and knows when to take them

Oswego East coach Ryan Velasquez isn’t surprised that college coaches who come to visit inevitably love Ryan Johnson’s game.

He’s a model for players to follow.

After a growth spurt earlier in high school, Johnson evolved from the sophomore team’s point guard two years ago to a 6-foot-7 senior forward who can score at all three levels. His game has grown too, and Johnson is a huge reason why the Wolves will carry a 23-5 record into Friday’s game at Oswego.

“Seeing him grow throughout the four years we had him in our program, being able to play multiple positions, being able to score at all three levels, he sets an example for the younger kids in our program to emulate on the court and in the classroom,” Velasquez said.

Johnson is second on Oswego East at 11.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 49.3% from the floor and 35.9% from the 3-point line. He’s put countless hours honing that jump shot, but Johnson’s talent is not just the ability to make shots, but knowing when to take them.

“He understands the importance of great shots,” Velasquez said. “He will pass up opportunities to give guys better looks. That is something we preach on a daily level, is that one more pass. We talk about shot selection, and the difference between winning and losing and what it takes to win, and he understands that. He’s that unselfish player. That’s why coaches love him. They know he can be a special player at the next level.”

Johnson has narrowed his college choices down to about six schools, and he’d like to stay close to home. His older brother AJ Johnson is a sophomore at Carthage, and Velasquez said that fellow CCIW schools Illinois Wesleyan and Augustana, as well as Wisconsin-Oshkosh are among the schools who have shown the most interest.

Perhaps it’s his point guard background, but identifying the correct shot to take and playing unselfish basketball was always part of Johnson’s game.

“It’s something that I came in with; I was never the guy that could score with the ball off the dribble but I can now. I came in with the mindset to get the best shot that’s available,” Johnson said. “I got a lot of shots up in the offseason, a lot of practice at that. I’d go to my dad’s school and get in shots with him. It comes down to that confidence and that mindset that I feel confident. I’m shooting it more this year and shooting it with more consistency.”

That improved outside game has only opened up Johnson’s game more.

“It really does help me,” he said. “When I’m out on the perimeter and I’m open I can shoot. It really helps me with the selection of my shots. If it’s open I can take it because I can score at any level.”

“He is very versatile for us, and we can do multiple things with him. We trust the ball in his hands,” Velasquez said. “It opens up so many doors. We can run him off screens, we trust him in the open court. We like it when he’s aggressive because we know he will make the right play.”

Johnson is one of four Wolves’ starters averaging between 9.8 points and 12.5 points per game. Oswego East is at its best when it is sharing the basketball and spreading the wealth, in addition to playing elite defense like the Wolves have been lately.

They followed up an impressive 59-48 win at Yorkville last Friday with a 66-32 thrashing of Waubonsie Valley Tuesday, a game in which the Wolves had an eye-opening 28 assists.

“I really like the way we are playing right now. We’re playing as a team, and defensively we’re really getting it done,” Velasquez said. “We’re really sharing the basketball, which is nice to see. We don’t really care who gets the glory. For us to click we want to be able to share the basketball, execute and run our stuff. We do those things we give ourselves a pretty good shot.”

Oswego on a roll going into crosstown

Friday’s crosstown game at Oswego looks like it will feature two teams at the top of their game. Oswego (15-14) has won nine of its last 10 games, and went over the .500 mark for the first time this season with a 60-59 win over Naperville Central on Tuesday.

Reflecting on his team’s surge down the stretch, Oswego coach Chad Pohlmann actually traced it back to his team’s win over Yorkville in December.

“From that point on we’re like 13-6,” he said. “That win kind of gave us the belief that we could play with anybody. Yorkville is as good as it gets, very talented, they got size.”

Oswego has won four straight over the last 10 days, and has shown the ability to win close games with the four wins by a combined 14 points.

The Panthers had a big second half to win at West Aurora last Friday after two losses to the Blackhawks earlier this season. Then Oswego beat Prairie Ridge in double overtime at the Kaneland Shootout the following afternoon on the strength of Armani Hunter’s 21 points after blowing a 10-point lead in the final two minutes of regulation.

“When you’re not playing your best and you’re still able to come away with a win, that’s a positive sign,” Pohlmann said. “All those experiences add up and you continue to learn from then. We get in the tournament we can look back on those experiences.”

First up, though, the Panthers will be looking to reverse their recent struggles against their crosstown rivals. Oswego East has won the last 11 meetings, although the 58-53 final in the first meeting this season was the closest margin during that stretch. Friday’s game is six years to the day since Oswego’s last crosstown win.

“They’ve had our number for some time now,” Pohlmann said. “To me it always comes down to they’ve always been a very good offensive rebounding team, they always seem to get a ton of second chance points – we’re going to have to get as many defensive rebounds as we can and take care of the basketball when we have it. We get fast breaks, we get open shots we have to take advantage of them.”

Playoff seeds

Boys basketball playoff seeds were released Thursday, with pairings to come out Friday. Oswego East earned the third seed behind Joliet West and Bolingbrook in the Class 4A Bolingbrook Sectional, with Oswego the 10th seed. Yorkville is the second seed behind Moline in Sub-Sectional A of the Moline Sectional.

In Class 3A Plano is the eighth seed in Sub-Sectional A of the Burlington Central Sectional, and in Class 2A Sandwich is the seventh seed in Sub-Sectional B of the Johnsburg Sectional. Finally, in Class 1A Yorkville Christian is the fifth seed and Newark the sixth seed in Sub-Sectional A of the Putnam County Sectional.