Carrier, Faith Feuerbach shine in Sycamore win over Lake Park

There were a couple of unexpected guest stars in Sycamore’s battle with Lake Park on Monday afternoon.

In a matchup between Division I senior recruits – Sycamore’s Kylie Feuerbach (Iowa State) and Lake Park’s Darrione Rogers (DePaul) – a sophomore and freshman stole the show.

Sycamore sophomore guard Faith Feuerbach canned five 3-pointers to equal her career high of 21 points, and freshman teammate Evyn Carrier added 14 points in a 57-49 win over Lake Park in the inaugural MLK Conference challenge.

Rogers, a prolific scorer, pumped in a game-high 23 points to go with 13 rebounds, but the underclassmen duo of Faith Feuerbach and Carrier both had career efforts to lead the Spartans (14-6) to a signature nonconference victory.

“This win was absolutely huge,” Sycamore coach Adam Wickness said. “It’s something we talked about, just getting that résumé builder for a while now. Since the new year, our defense has really started to click. We are understanding the concept of team defense, anchored by our lockdown defender in Kylie.”

Faith Feuerbach, who has an offer from Northern Illinois, showed her immense potential with a sizzling shooting display. She made all five of her 3s in the second quarter, ending the half with a buzzer-beating rainbow 3 from the corner off an inbounds play that started with 1.5 seconds left. Faith Feuerbach walked off the court into the halftime locker room with an ear-to-ear smile after scoring 17 points.

Considering that her older sister and Rogers are widely viewed as the best players in the history of their respective programs, it was a coming-out party for the younger Feuerbach at the showcase event.

“The more I shot, the more confident I got,” Faith Feuerbach said. “I was shocked because [my shots] kept falling. It got me major excited and made me want to keep on shooting.”

Kylie Feuerbach did most of her work on the defensive end, guarding Rogers, a high-volume shooter with nearly half-court range, for most of the game in Sycamore’s man-to-man defense. She managed to pour in 14 points to go with nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks – all on shots by Rogers, including on a 3-point attempt.

“It’s crazy because you are not really used to guarding those type of players, a James Harden [type],” Kylie said. “She can knock them down, so we mentally had to know she got the ball to be up on her. We knew she was going to score, but it was a matter of 50 [points] or 20 or so. She’s a very good player. I had not played her before.”

The Spartans built a 38-22 lead after back-to-back baskets by Carrier early in the third quarter but, as expected, Rogers went on a scoring spree in the final minutes of regulation. Rogers, who owns eight school records and has made nearly 200 3s in her illustrious career, drilled two straight 3s, but Carrier scored six late points to seal the win.

Wickness said Carrier had “by far her best game” and already is receiving interest from colleges.

“I was so pleased with how we came out and knocked down shots, but also the defense was stifling in the first half,” he said. “We knew they would make a run, and [we] responded. We were poised and strong with the ball and got a couple of easy buckets at the end. [Carrier] has been building toward this. In the last couple of weeks, she’s starting to play with a lot more confidence and play more under control. She’s been a lot more poised recently, and when that confidence builds, the sky is the limit. I know that there are [college] teams looking at her because they’ve been in contact with her.”