Boys Basketball: Dylan Engler provides a spark, but slow start costs Panthers again

OSWEGO – It’s been said that you’re only as good as your last game.

After getting a big conference win against Joliet West on Thursday, Oswego struggled in 53-44 loss to visiting Lincoln-Way East during Monday’s MLK Day of Hoops game.

“It’s strange, but sometimes I just can’t figure these guys out,” Panthers coach Chad Pohlmann said. “I thought we played one of the our best games down at Joliet West. We couldn’t have been more crisp on offense and with how we shared the ball. Today we didn’t have a lot of interest in playing. We were just here and that can’t happen. As a sectional opponent, we wasted an opportunity today.”

Oswego (12-7) couldn’t have started much worse while Lincoln-Way East (10-9) couldn’t have begun much better.

The Griffins drilled four 3-pointers in the first quarter and then got a offensive rebound and putback a minute into the second quarter to take a 21-6 lead, which would be their biggest of the night.

“Obviously it didn’t last,” Griffins coach Rich Kolimas said. “And Oswego shoots the ball much better than they showed tonight. We’ve seen that and know that about them, but we closed it up and we rebounded the ball well.”

Despite their dismal start,the Panthers fought their way back and it was no surprise that Dylan Engler sparked the rally.

The 6-foot-5 senior took a charge and then hammered home a 3-pointer the other way to pull the Panthers to within 30-28 with 2:13 left in the third quarter.

Then, after another offensive foul whistled on the Griffins, Engler connected again, giving the Panthers their first lead since early in the first quarter.

“I feel like I’m one of the leaders, one of the captains of the team and that I can bring a spark that not everyone can,” Engler said. “When I took the charge and made the threes back-to-back, it started to feel like the team was getting up, but unfortunately we couldn’t keep it going. That’s the way it goes, I guess.”

A potential fantastic finish appeared to be brewing but never materialized.

Engler’s lay-in pulled the Panthers to within 34-33 with 6:34 remaining, but the Griffins responded with a 14-0 run. Oswego finally broke the drought when Joey Niesman sank a pair of free throws with a minute left to play.

“We kind of grinded it out and I thought we played fairly good defense there in the second and third quarter and then about four minutes into the fourth quarter,” Pohlmann said. “But our shots weren’t falling and the kids kind of got demoralized and kind of quit playing. It’s frustrating.”

Pohlmann acknowledged that slow starts have been an obstacle when his squad has struggled, something it hasn’t done much of lately though, having won six of seven games coming into play.

Regardless, it’s an issue they know they need to overcome.

"The slow starts have been killing us,” Pohlmann said. “We have a hard time sometimes if we don’t get our shots to fall early. It kind of demoralizes us and frankly we have to be tougher mentally. We’re not going to hit shots early every night so we have to find other ways to grind out wins.”

Kobe Adams led the Panthers with 13 points and Engler had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Griffins had no one in double digits, but nine players scored, including Jhei-R Jones, Julian Barr and Tyler Vaundry with nine points each.

The Panthers will look to rebound against Plainfield East at home on Friday in a key conference battle.

“It’s going to be a big game,” Engler said. “We’ll use this loss as motivation for us. We’ve got to try to win out in conference.”