Boys Basketball: AJ Johnson, Oswego East pull away from Plainfield East, clinch SPC West title

OSWEGO – AJ Johnson stole the ball, raced out in transition and dropped in a nifty Euro step for a basket as he absorbed contact.

The maturation of his game was indeed apparent Friday.

Johnson, Oswego East’s 6-foot-3-inch senior guard, carved out a nice niche as a shooter last season in a substitute role. He’s added much more this year, even if it is an abbreviated season.

“Last year, I was more of a catch-and-shoot guy coming off the bench,” Johnson said, “but this year, I’ve added a pull-up shot. I’m taking guys off the dribble, playing the passing lanes, crashing the boards, trying to do whatever I can to help my team win.”

Johnson and the Wolves continue to do plenty of winning.

Johnson scored a team-high 13 points with four steals, and got plenty of help, as Oswego East pulled away from Plainfield East late for a 66-55 win to clinch the Southwest Prairie Conference West Division title.

The Wolves (8-2, 8-2), who won the SPC West for the second straight year, are the No. 2 seed behind Joliet West in the SPC tournament.

“It’s awesome, definitely,” Johnson said. “Not having a state tournament this year stinks, but going out every night, giving our all and winning another conference championship is huge.”

Senior Peyton Ruth, getting a start on Senior Night, added 10 points, with back-to-back 3-pointers out of halftime to extend Oswego East’s 29-22 lead to double digits out of the break, Odin Lium added seven points, and Darren Hughes six points and four steals for Oswego East. Kobe Reed scored 15 points, and Sean Sizemore 11 for Plainfield East (5-5, 5-5).

Oswego East twice pulled ahead by double figures in the second half Friday, but both times the Bengals clawed back. Finally, the Wolves put it away with an 11-2 run midway through the fourth quarter. Sophomore Mekhi Lowery and Lium each hit two free throws, Johnson turned a steal into a score and Oregon scored off a pretty feed from Lowery for a 64-50 lead.

“Good teams find a way to win, and we did that tonight,” Oswego East coach Ryan Velasquez said.

In doing so, the Wolves continued to bounce back from their March 2 loss at Joliet West. Oswego East beat Romeoville, 51-40, on March 3, and concluded a busy week March 6, by beating Plainfield South, 69-64.

“Tough game against Joliet West, it’s been a long week, but we were able to bounce back against Romeoville with great defense and played hard tonight,” Johnson said.

Bengals’ coach Michael Fowler, whose team was coming off an overtime win over Minooka, likewise appreciated his teams’ gritty effort in not going away. Plainfield East overcame 12 first-half turnovers to keep things close late.

“That’s their makeup. Night in and night out, they don’t quit,” Fowler said. “Everybody that got in there battled and didn’t give up. As a coach you have to be proud of that.”

Reed, who was coming off a career-high 33 points against Minooka with a 35-footer at the buzzer to force overtime, shot just 6 for 17 Friday and missed a couple of good looks in the fourth quarter while the game was still hanging in the balance.

“He’s been carrying us, at least offensively,” Fowler said. “He was a little off tonight, he had some looks but teams key on him. They know what he’s capable of doing.”

Johnson, one of five seniors starting on Oswego East’s Senior Night, showcased a full complement of skills in scoring nine of his 13 points in the first half.

He hit a jumper in the game’s opening minutes and turned the first of his four steals into a breakaway in the first quarter. In the waning moments of the first half, Johnson scored on a nice baseline drive, absorbing the hit and converted the three-point play, then spun in the lane for a short turnaround jumper on Oswego East’s next possession.

Later, he turned another theft into his Euro step in transition for a 39-24 lead, Oswego East’s biggest of the game.

“He has that motor in him that he can defend and he is very versatile, too,” Velasquez said. “He can handle the ball, he can play off the ball and he has grown from his junior year to senior year. That’s what we expect out of all of our guys. I’m glad that he was able to perform on Senior Night along with the other guys. It was nice to see our seniors go out the right way and celebrate.”