Call him the instigator.
Jehvion Starwood, the lone junior in a veteran lineup featuring four seniors, understood the situation Oswego East faced at Yorkville after one quarter Friday night.
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The Wolves were staring at an 18-10 deficit in a showdown between the top two teams in the Southwest Prairie West. And it was a spark that started the fire.
“Jehvion’s capable of scoring — and really dangerous,” Oswego East coach Ryan Velasquez said. “He can take it off the dribble, has the ability to pull up and can shoot the 3-pointer.
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“When he’s clicking, watch out because he’s tough. He was (Friday night) at certain times, and it gives us a little bit of juice.”
A lanky 6-foot-3 guard, Starwood by himself outscored the Foxes 11-9 in the second quarter, sparking Oswego East to a 31-27 halftime lead en route to a 59-48 victory.
“I knew that we needed a spark on offense and that’s really what I was looking to bring for the team,” Starwood said. “I really wasn’t looking to do too much but take good shots — the best I possibly can.
“I felt like those were the best I could get.”
Starwood and senior point guard Bryce Shoto each had 3-pointers in a 10-4 spurt to open the quarter for the Wolves. Starwood added another at the 2:20 mark.
It broke a 25-25 tie with Yorkville (22-5, 11-4) and gave Oswego East (22-5, 14-0) the lead for good.
The Wolves clinched the Southwest Prairie West title and can complete a second straight undefeated run through the conference with two more wins.
“It’s very special,” said Starwood, who transferred to Oswego East in the offseason from Yorkville Christian. “We play with a lot of pride. Coach is going to push us to be good and the best we possibly can.”
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Starwood finished with 13 points. Shoto added 10. Towson recruit Mekhi Lowery had a game-high 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead Oswego East.
The team’s defense was just as important.
“I feel we dug our heels in on the defensive end and got some stops,” Velasquez said. “They hurt on the boards in the first half.”
After Yorkville shot 67% (8 of 12) in the first quarter, the Wolves utilized a full-court trap and then switched to a 1-3-1 zone before settling into a 2-3.
“When we went to the 1-3-1, I thought it stopped them from getting open looks,” Shoto said. “I could tell they were getting frustrate out there. They were starting to argue with each other.”
Jory Boley matched Lowery with 15 points but was the lone Yorkville player to reach double figures. The Foxes did get eight points each from Dayvion Johnson, Jason Jakstys and LeBaron Lee Jr.
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The Wolves, however, countered with nine points apiece from Ryan Johnson and Mason Blanco.
“They have some shooters and we always know we have to keep it challenging for LeBaron because he’s just such a force,” Velasquez said. “We wanted to make things tough for him and Jakstys.
“It wasn’t just the guys guarding them, but the guy guarding the ball or the guy behind them on the help line.”
It worked as Yorkville was limited to shooting 23% (9 of 39) over the final three quarters. Oswego East made 59% (19 of 32).
“They were switching their defense, and I think their zone and length made us stop going inside as much,” Yorkville coach John Holakovsky said. “We had a lot of threes early coming off drives and kick-outs, but we ended up being very perimeter-oriented and we just didn’t shoot very well.”
Defending the guards also helped, according to Starwood.
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“If the guards can’t get the ball to the posts, the posts can’t do what they want to do,” he said.
