Plainfield South pulls away from Oswego late to earn critical conference win

OSWEGO - Entering Friday’s Southwest Prairie Conference matchup, Oswego and Plainfield South were both angling for positioning in the standings.

While Bolingbrook, Joliet West and Oswego East were safely in the top three spots, the Panthers and Cougars were two of six teams vying for that No. 4 spot.

Plainfield South held that seed entering the night while Oswego was looking to pull within half a game of it with a victory.

Mission accomplished ... for the Cougars.

A thrilling contest that seemed to have as many lead changes as points scored, the Cougars pulled away in the final three minutes to win 64-56.

Entering the night, Plainfield East sat ninth in the SWPC standings at 3-5 while Oswego and Romeoville were tied for seventh at 3-4. Minooka and Plainfield North were each 4-4, tying for fifth while the Cougars sat 5-3.

Now, the Cougars find themselves at 6-3 after falling behind by five with 10 minutes to go. They were down a point entering the fourth quarter before using an 11-3 run to put Plainfield South up by seven. The Cougars led by as many as 10 in the final minutes before prevailing by eight.

“First of all, I want to give Oswego a major thumbs up,” Plainfield South coach Jeff Howard said. “I know they were a little depleted but the guys who stepped on the court executed what (Oswego coach Nick Oraham) wanted. My whole thing was I knew we could beat them in 32 minutes. It was a heck of a game for 28-29 minutes.”

While Plainfield South’s 13-6 overall record is solid on paper, it’s been somewhat of a rollercoaster season. The Cougars won eight of their first nine games before dropping four in a row. That was followed by a three-game winning streak before a 67-39 beatdown by Plainfield North.

The Panthers' season has been almost as up-and-down as the Cougars'. A 3-1 start was followed by a 1-4 stretch. They went 3-4 afterward heading into Friday and are 1-1 their past two.

“We played hard for 32 minutes,” Oraham said. “We had some new kids in different roles and I thought they played and performed well. We just didn’t get the timely shot to go down or the one stop that we needed late and (Plainfield South) capitalized on a couple of turnovers in the fourth quarter to stretch the lead and we couldn’t get over the hump.”

The game was a battle throughout with the two teams sitting at 12-12 late in the first. A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Michael Delgado put the Panthers up 18-14 at the end of the first.

A 12-1 run featuring one of the nastiest dunks of the year by Kareem Parker to start the second had the Cougars back on top, 26-19.

Just when the Cougars looked to pull away, the Panthers used an 11-2 run to take the lead once more. A jumper by Joell Tunnat tied the game for Plainfield South just before halftime, 30-30.

The Cougars tied the game on a floater by Caleb Navarro late in the third, but Ethan Vahl gave the Panthers a 44-43 edge entering the final period.

The teams exchanges baskets to start the fourth before the Cougars began their hot stretch to put the game on ice.

Parker led the way for the Cougars with 18 points, but seven other players scored five or more points.

“Brandon Pierce and Dillon Keeley came off the bench for us and played really well,” Howard said. “I sat Brilan Townsend because the shots weren’t falling, but he hit a nice shot in the lane (late in the fourth). ...Corey Nobles stepped up on defense too.”

The Panthers are 7-10 overall now, but have plenty to be excited about. Vahl, a freshman, scored 11 of the team’s first 13 points and finished with 23. Delgado added nine while Luke Roller and Hunter O’Neil each had eight.

With Minooka upsetting Joliet West on Friday, Plainfield South sits just half a game out of third place in the conference. Parker believes the Cougars are capable of making a run at it.

“We just have to beat the rest of the teams we have to play,” he said. “We’ve got Minooka coming up so hopefully we get that W and just keep going.”