Girls basketball: Oswego East pulls away in second half to best Oswego 58-40

OSWEGO – Desiree Merritt turned things around in the second half for Oswego East during its Southwest Prairie Conference game at Oswego.

The Wolves sophomore scored all 15 of her points after halftime in a 58-40 victory.

“Overall, Desiree did a much better job of being under control in that second half,” Wolves coach Abe Carretto said. “I thought Desiree really carried us in the third quarter. She definitely got those buckets that we needed to open the lead up a little bit more.”

Her 3-pointer just a few ticks before the third quarter ended made it 44-30, and she kicked off the scoring in the fourth quarter by getting near the hoop for two more.

“The first half we struggled,” Merritt said. “We had a lot of turnovers, and we couldn’t find our flow. So in the second half I told myself I needed to take over and make better passes and plays to help us take the lead.”

Kendall Grant had a nifty move into the lane to roll in a shot for the first points of the second quarter with 5:21 left in the half. The Panthers would pull within seven points again like they did at 18-11, but they wouldn’t get any closer to the Wolves than that.

“We’ve had some games where teams have jumped on us, and we’ve kept battling,” Panthers coach Dave Lay said. “They are resilient. They keep working hard.

“We’re young. I know (Oswego East is) young too, but we hit these strides where we go two, three, four and sometimes five minutes without scoring, and it makes it hard for us.”

Grant led the Panthers with a game-high 20 points. Ahlivia East added nine points, and Emily Mengerink had seven.

“We’re starting to put together a full 32 minutes and not just sections of times,” Lay said. “We knew we had our work cut out for us today. They’re undefeated in conference for a reason. Shots weren’t falling in the first half. I felt it should’ve been tighter than 11 (points at 25-14 at halftime), but when you’re not hitting, it’s the way it’s going to go.”

Oswego East (7-4, 5-0) won its sixth straight.

“We were a little sluggish at times, and some of the things we worked on in practice we need to maybe work on a littler longer,” Carretto said. “Oswego did a nice job of making an adjustment, and that’s something we have to be a little more prepared for. And I felt like we also got lucky at times, because they had a lot of shots go in and out, and both teams did, but they seemed to have it even more so.”

And the key to the winning streak?

“It’s all confidence,” Merritt said. “And our defense and our press. We have gotten a lot of steals, and we’re scoring off of that.”

Aubrey Lamberti and Maggie Lewandowski each scored 13 points for the Wolves.

Oswego (2-10, 0-5) will look to remain positive despite not seeing its coveted results yet.

“We’re a work in progress that is hopefully heading in the right direction,” Lay said. “The goal is to be playing the best in February.

“We broke the year into three parts. The first part is over, and we’re now in the middle of the second part. We’ve got to enhance where are defensively.”