Recovered Stuart dominates as OJR rallies past Pottstown
POTTSTOWN >> Dawson Stuart admitted that he wasn’t at 100 percent entering Tuesday night’s contest against Pottstown.
His play, however, fooled everyone.
Owen J. Roberts’ Stuart was unstoppable in his return as he dominated the paint and the glass en route to a game-best 26 points as the Wildcats pulled out a thriller, 58-56, over the Trojans to snap a three-game losing streak.
“Obviously everyone saw what Dawson did tonight,” OJR head coach Kevin Kirby said. “He makes a difference. I don’t think we lost those other games because he didn’t play because all the guys give me everything they have, but certainly he was an all-league player as a sophomore for a reason and he showed why tonight.”
Stuart, a junior forward, missed the past two-plus games because of an injury he suffered during the Wildcats’ trip to the Wildwood Boardwalk Classic and was relegated to a protective boot in the days after. His return was a welcome sign for OJR, which came into Tuesday’s contest losers of three straight and losers of five of its last six games … even if he wasn’t quite at “100 percent.”
“I’ve been working really hard to get back,” Stuart said. “I just wanted to come back and give it all I could. I tried to be as close to 100 percent as I could be. I’m almost there, but I want to give 120 percent, not just 100.”
Mission complete.
Stuart’s dominance on the glass was game-changing. He poured in six of his 26 in the first quarter to lead the Wildcats past a lethargic start that saw them go down early. He took over the third quarter with a 12-point effort before saving his best performance for the late stages. Down 49-42, Stuart’s turn-around jumper followed by his putback and the harm on the next possession brought OJR within two. Trailing 53-52 three minutes later, it was Stuart giving the Wildcats their first lead since the opening inbound (OJR held a 1-0 lead before game started because of Pottstown technical during pregame) as he crashed the boards and put back a missed jumper from Bobby Walker (eight points) to make it 54-53.
Following Malik Brown’s strong take for the lead, Sean Praweckyj, who was heckled by Pottstown fans for missing one-of-two free throws moments earlier, atoned for his miss by hitting a game-shifting 3-pointer before OJR held off Pottstown’s last-ditch effort, the Trojans missing out on a shot to tie it at 58 as the buzzer sounded.
“This win feels good,” Praweckyj said. “I was short on the first free throw but that 3-pointer was the dagger.”
Pottstown had three players score in double figures — Larry Wingo leading the way with 16 points, Floyd Dashiell 11 and Aaron Diamond 10 — in what amounted to be the Trojans’ fourth straight loss and sixth loss in the past seven games. Pottstown (1-5, 4-8), which started the season 3-1, led after taking a 9-7 lead midway through the first and had built a lead as large as seven (49-42) before turnovers and their inability to crash the boards paved the way for OJR to take the lead and the win.
“It seems like one guy beats us all the time,” Pottstown interim coach Kenneth Ivory said. “We had balance, three guys in doubles. You can’t ask for anything better than that, you really can’t.
“It’s not lack of effort. We weren’t outworked. We were in control during the second half but we didn’t do the small things at the end. We didn’t run our stall plays where we hold on to the basketball and make them foul. We didn’t do that; we didn’t execute when we were supposed to in crunch time.”
