Who was that masked man?
Rest assured, Oswego East junior Andrew Pohlman is not The Lone Ranger.
The clear plastic mask worn Saturday by the 6-foot-3 guard against Lyons in the Ernie Kivisto Hoopfest at East Aurora protected his broken nose.
It allowed him to keep playing his team game with reckless abandon.
“He’s a difference maker when it comes to defense,” coach Ryan Velasquez said. “He does a lot of the dirty work for us. Took a forearm and broke his nose a week ago against York.
“We love what he brings to the court for us. He’s a really hard-nosed defender, team player. He doesn’t care if he scores. He’s unselfish. We like those kind of guys — we’ve got a lot of those guys.”
Pohlman played his role well as the Wolves rallied from a 16-point deficit in the first half to tie the game three times in the fourth quarter before losing 55-54 when their last-second shot was off the mark.
“We made them look really good in the first half,” Velaszuez said of the Trevians, who shot 61%. “It makes a difference when you play defense, make things hard and challenge ’em.”
Pohlman, who opened the season coming off the bench before moving into the starting lineup in early December, did his part. He made a three for his only points, almost on the mark of his 3.8 average.
He was active in other aspects, however, grabbing six rebounds and coming up with four steals. He also was credited by the official scorer with seven assists to just one turnover.
“I feel it,” Pohlman said of his second game with the mask. “But the adrenaline takes over, and then I usually worry about he game and my teammates rather than myself.”
During the break between the third and fourth quarters, Pohlman had to change from No. 21 to No. 30 because a cut he sustained on his chin bloodied his jersey.
“I’m not sure, to be honest,” Pohlman said, when asked how it happened.
In the final five minutes of the third quarter, however, he grabbed a contested rebound, drew a charge, snagged another rebound, kicked the ball out to a shooter for an assist on a 3-pointer and then stole the ball and doled out another assist on a feed for a layup.
“It’s not just my nose — I’ve had a lot of injuries,” Pohlman said, pointing to a scar running across his left knee. “Fourth grade. I split my knee open. It’s a life scar.
“Playing football, me and my brother at our new house, I fell and hit the ground and there was a boulder in the ground just under the grass. Split it wide open and I had to get 20 stitches and 20 staples.”
No wonder he said his mom and dad, Matthew and Kristine, “worry a lot.”
His coach doesn’t.
“We love when he’s out there,” Velasquez said.
Pohlman leads the team in two categories calculated by its Hudl program, averaging 4.8 rebounds and carrying a plus-minus rating of plus 7.8, helping his team’s point differential when he’s on the floor.
Called up for last year’s playoff run and getting to practice with the varsity boosted his confidence.
“Everyone has a role, and I’m just trying to do mine to the best of my ability,” Pohlman said. “It’s defense and rebounding and just doing the dirty work.
“Every successful team has a guy like me who doesn’t care about their body, just gets on the floor and dives for loose balls, and I fill that role.”
Blackhawks bounce back
Playing without two or three important players over their previous three games, West Aurora again short-handed but posted a 66-65 win over New Trier (21-5) behind 26 points from senior guard Jordan Brooks and 14 points and eight rebounds from junior center Gabriel Gonzales.
“That’s the way he is, even-keeled,” Blackhawks coach Michael Fowler said of Brooks. “He stepped up big-time for us, making five 3-pointers.
“Gabe has been up and down but he’s coming along and we couldn’t take him out of the game. He was aggressive finishing at the rim and getting rebounds. He was a difference maker, I was proud of him.”
Battle for second place
Crystal Lake South (21-1, 12-0) has the Fox Valley Conference title wrapped up, but Burlington Central (16-8, 8-4) is in the thick of a tight race for second place, tied with Huntley (15-9, 8-4), with both a half-game ahead of McHenry (18-6, 7-4) and Cary-Grove (12-2, 7-4).
The Rockets play host to McHenry on Tuesday and travel to Huntley on Friday.
