Andy Pohlman, Oswego East overwhelm Oswego on the glass, get 15th straight crosstown win

OSWEGO – Andy Pohlman is Oswego East’s masked man once again.

The 6-foot-4 senior wore a protective mask last season after he broke his nose.

A bad bounce, and break, came again Dec. 21, when Pohlman broke the nose against DePaul Prep.

“Mom and dad took him to the ER and said he re-broke it,” Oswego East coach Ryan Velasquez said. “Good thing he still had the mask.

“Doctor’s restriction were Andy can play as long as he’s OK with it. He’s like, ‘I’m good with the mask.' He didn’t miss anything.”

Who knew that the basketball court could cause more injuries than football, where Pohlman was a standout safety for the Oswego East football team.

“It’s a competition,” Pohlman said. “Me and my mom were making this joke, God ran out injuries to give me so he redid the nose thing again.”

All kidding aside, there is no masking what Pohlman means to the Wolves.

He had a near double-double in leading Oswego East’s huge rebounding edge in Saturday’s 60-46 crosstown win over visiting Oswego.

Pohlman had eight points and 10 rebounds, Mason Lockett 14 points and Reggie McWaine 12 points for Oswego East (12-5, 6-1), which won its 15th straight crosstown game.

Ethan Vahl scored 14 points and Dasean Patton 13 for Oswego (7-8, 3-4), which hurt its cause by making just 9 of 25 free throws.

Not even a cut lip that forced Pohlman to switch from jersey No. 21 to No. 31 could slow down his effort that is as recognizable to Velasquez as that mask.

“Andy is tenacious,” Velasquez said. “He is such a competitor. He brings that football mentality to the court, that toughness. He’s a great leader, a special kid. We’re going to miss him. I hope more come through like him. His effort is off the charts.”

Lockett, who’s played for Pohlman for two seasons now, knows that well.

“He is second to none in everything he does,” Lockett said. “It’s hard keeping up.”

That effort was infectious for Oswego East, which out-rebounded Oswego 38-12. Incredibly, Oswego was at single digits in rebounds until collecting a few team rebounds in the final minutes.

“We put an emphasis on rebounding, it’s always important,” Velasquez said. “When we’re on offense, it’s we want to put two feet in the paint to try to get second-chance shots and then on defense we put great value on boxing out, winning 50/50 balls. It demoralizes your opponent when you can beat them to the floor first.”

Damien Lewandowski also had 10 rebounds for Oswego East, which scored the first seven points of the game and led 32-23 at halftime.

“It just shows that we’re going to do the little things and those little things are going to add up to the big things,” Pohlman said. “Little things that add up can win you games.”

Oswego East has dominated its crosstown rival for much of the last decade with talent like Division I prospect Lockett, but Oswego could have one coming in Vahl.

The freshman guard was electric early with eight points and two 3-pointers in the first quarter, and a few high-level passes.

Oswego was within 44-36 in the closing seconds of the third quarter, but Lockett picked Vahl’s pocket and scored, starting a 9-0 run that blew the game open.

“We needed that play,” Lockett said. “It gave us momentum going into the fourth quarter.”

The Wolves appear to be building momentum. They went 3-1 at the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic, winning their last three, and have won their first three games in January.

Oswego East has dropped just three games since starting the season 2-2 while Lockett was out with a concussion.

A busy stretch of five games in seven days continues Tuesday at Romeoville.

“We learned a lot about ourselves without him, but we are so much better with him,” Velasquez said. “I think our guys are built for this. This will really test us. We got one practice on Monday to work on things. But it’s a grind prepping for each game.”