Boys Basketball: Oswego staves off Plainfield South

Updated: February 23, 2012 9:51PM

The Plainfield South boys basketball program has had some highs and lows over the past four years, including a Southwest Prairie Conference championship a year ago.

One constant has been senior Edvinas Presniakovas.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound, four-year varsity starter became the District 202 scoring leader by scoring 20 points in the host Cougars’ 73-63 home loss Thursday night to Oswego.

The previous record was 1,757 by 1960 Plainfield graduate and Hall of Famer Dave Needham, who resides in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“It’s a great honor,” Presniakovas said. “I’m proud of myself, my teammates and everybody’s who has played with me over the last four years.”

Presniakovas broke the record by nailing a three-pointer with 1:35 to play in the fourth quarter. He has 1,759 points heading into the Class 4A Thornton Regional.

“He’s done nothing but commit himself to this basketball program and this is a great award for him,” South coach Ken Bublitz said. “He’s been the cornerstone and a great ambassador for our program. It was great to see him get (the record) here at home.”

The game also was the last home contest for Bublitz, who will step down at the end of the season to concentrate on his second year as football coach.

“I’m just real grateful for the opportunity,” Bublitz said. “I hope I’ve done great service to our players, program and school. I’ve been glad to be a part of it.”

Plainfield South trailed 22-17 after a quarter.

Dantrell Wright (19 points) hit his second three-pointer of the game, giving the Cougars (12-13, 7-7) a short-lived 29-28 lead with 4:50 to play in the second. Oswego responded with an 11-2 run and never looked back.

The Panthers (16-10, 9-5) led 40-35 at halftime and 59-42 after three quarters. South made just 9-of-24 from free throws and turned the ball over 23 times.

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