Oswego East’s Desiree Merritt has played alongside two of the program’s all-time greats in her four varsity seasons, meaning she was never the quote-unquote star player for the Wolves.
Current teammate Aubrey Lamberti is the program’s all-time leading scorer, while Maggie Lewandowski sits third. Yet here’s Merritt, Oswego East’s version of Scottie Pippen, with a chance to move past Lewandowski and finish second behind Lamberti when it’s all said and done.
The lack of recognition doesn’t bother the senior guard, either.
“I never really think about it too much,” Merritt said. “I’m just going to go out there and hoop regardless. We had Maggie, who did big things. Aubrey is the leading scorer.
“I’m just out here to play. I’m glad I had teammates like that to set the standard.”
Merritt’s time at Oswego East is winding down before she heads to Joliet St. Francis, but she delivered another signature moment Tuesday night with a game-high 24 points for the Wolves in a 54-25 Southwest Prairie West victory over crosstown rival Oswego.
Oswego East’s Desiree Merritt (21) cheers on her team against crosstown rival Oswego during a Southwest Prairie Conference game in Oswego on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Mark Black / The Beacon-News)
She erupted for 17 of Oswego East’s 18 points in the second quarter and finished with 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocked shots for the Wolves (16-10, 9-4).
Lamberti also came through with 10 points for Oswego East. Destiny Hicks paced Oswego (13-17, 4-10) with six points, while Peyton Johnson added nine rebounds and six steals.
Merritt, meanwhile, followed up a rare stretch of going scoreless in the first quarter by making back-to-back 3-pointers in the second quarter — and it was game on.
“Crazy, I’ve never done anything like that,” Merritt said. “With the help of my teammates, obviously, I was able to do it. They were getting me the ball.
Oswego East’s Desiree Merritt (21) takes a shot against against crosstown rival Oswego during a Southwest Prairie Conference game in Oswego on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Mark Black / The Beacon-News)
“I definitely knew I was hot after the second shot I made.”
Oswego East coach Abe Carretto has seen it before from Merritt plenty of times.
“Finally, she started hitting some outside jumpers there and she kept hitting them, which was nice,” Carretto said of Merritt. “As soon as she hit two in a row, I was like, ‘OK, she’s feeling it.’”
Former Oswego East standout Venita Parsons is now Oswego’s coach. She coached Merritt in seventh grade and saw this coming.
Oswego East’s Desiree Merritt (21) looks for an opening against crosstown rival Oswego during a Southwest Prairie Conference game in Oswego on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Mark Black / The Beacon-News)
“I knew she was going to be a stud,” Parsons said. “Her work ethic is great. She gets her teammates involved. She takes opportunities when she has them. When you have a girl like that, who’s going to take over and put a team on her back, you have to be able to stop her.
“If you can’t stop her and she gets hot, it’s only going to get worse throughout the game.”
After her threes broke the ice, Merritt did what she does best by scoring in a variety of ways.
She hit a midrange jumper, nailed a runner in the lane, hit another three, converted a fadeaway in the lane and sank hit two free throws. By then, the Wolves led 26-13.
Oswego East’s Desiree Merritt (21) puts up an outside shot from the corner against crosstown rival Oswego during a Southwest Prairie Conference game in Oswego on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Mark Black / The Beacon-News)
Carretto realizes that Lamberti and Lewandowski may have garnered more of the headlines, but he knows how much Merritt is respected by his colleagues.
“She’s not getting left behind because other coaches tell me how athletic she is and fantastic when she gets going like that,” Carretto said. “I personally think that when you talk about the star of the team, we’ve just had a lot of them.
“Her and Maggie and Aubrey are so close in everything they’ve done that there’s no way to pinpoint the star.”
Still, Merritt is hoping for some more turns in the spotlight next week in the regional. After Oswego East’s upset win last weekend over Naperville Central, Merritt and Co. are going in confident.
“If that doesn’t show us that we’re a high-caliber team, I don’t know what will,” Merritt said. “We played our butts off.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/desiree-merritt-oswego-east-girls-basketball/
