Girls basketball: Oswego soph Ahlivia East growing into leadership role, showcases it in loss to Naperville C.

NAPERVILLE – Oswego forward Ahlivia East knows it is an honor to be a team leader as a sophomore.

In her case, it’s also a necessity. Despite her youth, East is one of the Panthers’ most experienced players and the most talented on a roster that has only four upperclassmen, including two seniors.

Is it hard being a young leader?

“Definitely, for sure,” East said. “There are some struggles, but it’s just confidence. You just have to play with confidence and composure.”

East, who was Oswego’s leading scorer as a freshman, has got the first part down. She’s still working on the second.

“My role on this team is just to try to be a leader and set a good example for my teammates,” East said. “This is my second year on varsity and I know some of the girls look up to me and I love that I have to keep my composure and try my best to be a leader.”

East demonstrated that on Friday night when she led the Panthers with 13 points, 12 rebounds and two steals in a 62-50 loss to host Naperville Central at the Naperville Central Tip-Off Tournament.

Eleven of her points came in the first half as she staked Oswego to a 30-28 halftime lead.

“She’s solid,” Oswego coach David Lay said. “She’s the real deal.

“The thing is with her, and something we keep working with her on, is she’s got that ‘I want to take over the game’ mentality, which is awesome. We want that, but at the same time, sometimes she overdoes it.

“She still has to learn when is the right time to do that and when it’s not. Going into traffic with three people maybe isn’t always the right answer.”

The Panthers (1-2) led by as many as eight points in the second quarter before sophomore guard Erin Hackett made a 3-point play for Naperville Central (1-1), which slowly started to chip away.

Hackett scored a game-high 22 points for the Redhawks, who outscored Oswego 24-10 in the third quarter to take control. East scored inside to pull Oswego within 35-34, but missed her final six shots and all four free-throw attempts after that.

“I feel like in the second half, we just didn’t play Oswego basketball,” East said. “In the first half, we played really well, and then at the end of the second quarter we kind of got a little sloppy.

“I feel like when we came back in (to start the second half), we didn’t have enough energy and the other team kind of ran away with it. It just didn’t go well.”

That dynamic was the reverse of what usually ails the Panthers.

“In the majority of our games, we don’t really start off too strong,” East said. “But in the first quarter I felt like we started off really strong, got ahead and really kept it with it.

“That was something new for us and I think we did a great job in the first quarter.

It’s not all negative, but there’s definitely things that we need to work on to be better as a team as a whole.”

Lay said the main issue right now is defense. Senior Emily Mengerink sank two 3-pointers in the second half and junior Maggie Voller had another that cut the deficit to 45-40 at the 2:06 mark of the third quarter, but the Panthers could get no closer.

“Every time we made a big shot to maybe get back in it, we would go give up a a 3-point shot,” Lay said. “The bottom line is our defense is not good enough right now.

“We’re not moving our feet well. They forced that action and we let it happen.”

Mengerink and sophomore forward Kendall Grant each scored eight points, while Voller and sophomore guard Ashley Cook added six points apiece for the Panthers, who felt like they squandered a rare chance to beat Naperville Central.

“(Naperville Central coach) Andy (Nussbaum) is obviously a legendary coach, but we felt like we let one get away,” Lay said. “If ever there is a year we could really pounce on them, we thought this was it, especially early in the year.

“What it comes down to is we haven’t learned how to win yet. We have to figure out how to put a whole 32 minutes together.”

East thinks it is only a matter of time, as she’s getting plenty of help in the leadership department.

“The seniors are amazing,” East said. “Emily and Kayelyn (Stager), they really keep us in the game and keep us focused. I look up to Emily. She’s a great player.”