Boys Basketball: Ryan Johnson, Oswego East slam West Aurora, take Hoops for Healing tournament title

OSWEGO – The dunk is still something special.

Oswego East senior Ryan Johnson certainly would have some thoughts about slams. His thunderous jam was in the middle of a game-changing run during the Wolves eventual 69-51 victory over West Aurora in Friday night’s Hoops for Healing Tournament championship game at Oswego.

“That dunk was amazing,” Johnson said. “I didn’t see (the defender) was coming so I just went up and dunked it and I guess I dunked on him. And that really got the energy up and was one of the changing moments of the game. (West Aurora) called that timeout after that and we came out of that timeout with the energy and kept it going.”

Oswego East (4-0) only led 30-26 at halftime as West Aurora (3-1) had answers on offense, with Jordan Brooks leading the way with 15 points.

“I thought our initial defense, at least for two quarters of the game, was really strong, but then offensive rebound, offensive rebound,” Blackhawks coach Brian Johnson said. “And you can’t win games when you do that and when you turn the ball over 15 times. It was kind of a combination of that, and they got to the line more and played more physical.”

The third quarter was a beauty for the Wolves, opening with a nifty left-handed move from Tyler Jasek that the senior turned into a three-point play. Johnson then followed with his dunk, which also sent him to the line where he finished the three-point play. They finished the 9-0 run to start the second half when junior Jehvion Starwood swished a three-pointer after snagging an offense rebound, something that crushed the Blackhawks all evening. Oswego East outrebounded West Aurora 41-23 and that included 20 offensive boards from the Wolves.

“They wanted to compete for the championship,” Wolves coach Ryan Velasquez said. “It wasn’t easy. We had games this week. I liked our attention, our focus, going into tonight, and then being able to do some good things. But, I just told the guys, enjoy this, but we’re far away from where we want to be so it’s a process. Nobody wants to be running on all cylinders at the end of November. This is going to be a longer journey.”

The Wolves didn’t let up after the third quarter run, led 52-39 at the end of the quarter, and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the evening. They also did it while senior Mekhi Lowery scored all but one of his 12 points in the first half. That’s how well-balanced the Wolves were, especially as this game progressed.

And the reality is that when Lowery wasn’t scoring, he was rebounding and setting up his teammates. He had 14 rebounds and five assists.

“We’re definitely a versatile team and we emphasize playing unselfish,” Lowery said. “Everybody’s got to eat. Crash the boards, feed the ball to everybody and just play off of each other.”

West Aurora’s Brian Johnson likened Lowery to Scottie Pippen.

“Basically he’s a point forward and he guards the best guy, and he’s long and he’s athletic and he’s smart,” Johnson said. “He can hit the open shot. He can hit the pull up. He’s an outstanding player. He’s very smooth. He never looks rushed.”

Velasquez compared Lowery to a multi-tool pocket knife.

“He’s our Swiss Army Knife, our utility guy, he does it all for us,” Velasquez said. “I just tell him to be you and he lets the game come to him. We have guys around him so I like that he rebounds. I believe he is a tenacious defender and he helps us out on the glass so much. He brings so much to the table. We believe in him and trust him and his teammates believe in him too.”

Mason Blanco came off the bench to lead the Wolves with 15 points. Johnson had 11 points and 11 rebounds, Bryce Shoto scored nine points and Starwood added eight points.

“Coach talked about energy and playing defense because we had let up at the end of the second quarter,” Ryan  Johnson said. “That start in the second half was just what we needed and that boosted us for the rest of the game.”

Joshua Pickett had 11 points and Calvin Savage scored 10 points for the Blackhawks.