By Bobby Narang
Oswego High School junior point guard Ethan Vahl is aiming higher this season.
Not only is Vahl focused on lifting the Panthers to another level, he wants to elevate his own game.
Two years ago, Vahl played for 12-win team – coming off a four-win season – to leading the Panthers to 22 wins in 2025-2026.
Vahl helped lead the resurgence with several tremendous performances, including 29 and 30 points in a pair of overtime wins over Oswego East.
Vahl said the Panthers, despite several new faces, played solid basketball in the June live period to show the potential for another 20-win season.
“I feel like the team had a really solid June overall,” Vahl said. “We competed well and showed a lot of growth as a group. There were definitely moments where we could’ve been better, but I think we kept improving and learned a lot throughout the month.”
Oswego coach Nick Oraham said his players exceeded his expectations.
“We’ve got a few newcomers – juniors and transfers – who had to get acclimated to what we are doing offensively and defensively,” Oraham said. “Our best performance was on the last day of the live period. We beat De La Salle and Deerfield. We held some really good players to low point totals and shared the ball well.
“I was encouraged by the progress we made daily. The kids shared it better and relied on each other more and more defensively.”
Oraham said Vahl was among several players who shined in June.
“Ethan shot it and shared it well all summer,” Oraham said. As long as we remained bought into our goals, we should be fine. I’m looking forward to the competition this year. We will be well prepared and ready to face any challenge that lays ahead of us.”
The 6-foot-3 Vahl averaged 21.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game last season. Vahl said he was happy how he played in June for the Panthers.
“For me personally, I feel like I played pretty well,” Vahl said. “It was definitely a great learning opportunity. I’ve had 10-plus coaches reach out to me after the live period and had a lot of good feedback. Now into July, I’m looking forward to making an impact in many ways and leading and playing defense at a high level.
“Right now, I’m really focused on improving my consistency and becoming more quicker, faster and stronger and working on my defense and making sure I’m making the right reads to help my team win.”
Oswego senior Graham Schwab, a three-sport athlete, agreed with Vahl on how the Panthers performed on the court.
“I feel like our team competed in every game we played,” Schwab said. “Although we would have liked to win them all, we have a bunch of new players and right now we are just looking to make strides together as a whole for the season.
“I feel like I played fairly well. I’m always going to bring energy and play hard, which I feel like if you do that, it makes your play seem better if it isn’t. I’m looking to improve on overall shooting and dribbling to make the most of my scoring ability.”