Girls basketball: Wynne Oeffling’s return helps Johnsburg get bounce-back win at Plano

PLANO – Wynne Oeffling missed Johnsburg’s last game against conference leader Marengo, and it didn’t sit well with the senior guard.

“It was hard to watch,” Oeffling said. “I was sick, throwing up.”

Oeffling returned to practice on Monday, and helped the Skyhawks get well.

Oeffling scored a team-high 14 points, while handling the assignment of defending high-scoring Plano junior guard Josie Larson with four of Johnsburg’s 14 steals.

Visiting Johnsburg scored the last seven points of the first half to erase an early Plano lead, and pulled away late for a 48-37 win on Tuesday in the Kishwaukee River Conference.

Kaylee Fouke added 10 points, eight coming in the fourth quarter, and Sophie Person scored nine points for Johnsburg (13-10, 8-4), which bounced back from back-to-back losses last week to Woodstock North and Marengo.

The Skyhawks scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, starting with Fouke’s banked-in 3-pointer, to gain separation from what was a 34-33 lead after three quarters.

Johnsburg shot just 28% from the floor for the game, but made 17 of 21 free throws and held Plano scoreless for the first 4:29 of the fourth quarter.

“Last week was a tough week. This was a good one for us,” Johnsburg coach Erin Stochl said. “This is a team that will work hard every single game. We don’t always have our best shooting night, but one thing I can always expect is they’re going to leave everything they have on the floor, no matter what the score is.”

Oeffling missed her first four shots, but had a hand in a game-changing turn of events to end the first half.

She hit a 3-pointer to give Johnsburg a 25-24 lead with 21 seconds left in the half. Then, with 2.1 seconds remaining, Oeffling was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made two of three three throws for a 27-24 halftime lead Johnsburg wouldn’t relinquish.

“It got me going,” Oeffling said. “Once I do a little bit then I can get going. I feel better and more confident, and then the game comes to me more. I missed really bad at the start, thought maybe it wasn’t my day.”

To Stochl, any day with Oeffling in the lineup is a better day.

“Wynne is one of our biggest scoring threats. She’s a leader, she handles the ball for us really well, she is someone we run the offense through, she can do a little bit of everything,” Stochl said. “She can score, she can distribute, she can handle pressure well, she plays great defense. They have a fantastic player [Larson] and we stuck Wynne on her.”

Indeed, Larson this year has broken Plano scoring records for a single game, season and career in her third varsity season.

Larson scored 16 points Tuesday on 6 for 18 shooting for the Reapers (13-15, 5-7), and was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Larson did score nine of her 16 in the first half, and got help.

Fellow junior Nylah Matthews came off the bench to score 10 of her 12 points in the first half, knocking down three of Plano’s five first-half 3-pointers. Plano led by as many as five points, and a Matthews free throw had it 24-20 with 2:12 left in the half.

“Nylah is one of our top shooters and a lot of people don’t know that,” Plano coach Tristan Spivey said. “It’s only her second year playing but we knew she could hit some shots.”

Larson’s 3-pointer with 1:03 left in the third quarter had Plano within 34-33, although it wasn’t the Reapers’ offense Spivey was most concerned with.

“Our big issues were on defense. We couldn’t stop fouling them,” Spivey said. “They made 17 of 21 at the line. That’s not going to cut it.”

Twelve of those free throws came in the first half, allowing Johnsburg to hang in there against Plano’s early hot shooting before Oeffling’s flurry of offense before the half.

“I always remind our girls basketball is a game of runs,” Stochl said. “We really try to keep our heads and stay together through adversity. Those shots Wynne hit were a huge momentum shift for us.”

Plano, with three games remaining, still has a shot at the program’s first winning season since 2018-2019, quite a turnaround after going 3-28 two years ago. Spivey noted they’ll need to clean up on the turnovers, 24 on Tuesday.

“Young team, one senior, it’s our Achilles heel right now,” Spivey said. “I tell the girls we shoot the ball pretty well. Imagine where we could be if we didn’t turn the ball over on 30 or 40% of our possessions.”