Girls basketball: Seniors spark Sycamore in 3rd quarter in win over Yorkville

SYCAMORE – Senior moments were happening in the third quarter Thursday night.

Monroe McGhee got Sycamore going after the Spartans trailed at halftime, and fellow senior Lexi Carlsen finished off the quarter with a flourish to take care of visiting Yorkville 58-43.

“The third quarter was pretty fun,” Sycamore coach Adam Wickness said. “There were a few things we talked about at halftime. We did a pretty poor job [in the first half] of what we call ‘tagging up’ and trying to get on the high side of an offensive rebound so that they can’t break out in transition.”

Wickness also believed history was on his senior-heavy team’s side.

“I said, ‘Listen, we are a team that notoriously comes out in the third quarter here and plays lights out,’” he said. “I told them the quarter is going to be ours, and it’s the one that’s going to tell how this game is going to finish up, which was great. A lot of that had to do with the seniors and the leadership that’s involved with that. A lot of the girls have played three years for me, and Lexi [Carlsen] has been here for all four.”

Sycamore (11-2) was celebrating senior night but trailed 29-26 at halftime.

“I think when we finished the second quarter we were kind of down,” McGhee said. “Then we remembered what senior night is all about and said let’s just have fun with the intention of starting out strong and the first two minutes of the second half determining the entire game. So we came out as hard as we did, which allowed us to have more fun and have the senior night we wanted.”

Sophomore Grace Amptmann opened the second half for the Spartans with a drive and basket before McGhee went on her own little run. McGhee turned a couple of offensive rebounds into quick putbacks and then converted a layup on a cut to the hoop for a 34-29 lead. McGhee finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

“My sister and brother have been through the Sycamore program the past eight years, so I was super excited to finally have my turn,” McGhee said about senior night. “I definitely had tunnel vision for this game. I said ‘We’re not losing.’ I didn’t finish the second quarter like I wanted to so I came out in the third quarter gunning to get the lead.”

Carlsen really put on a show over the final 70 seconds of the third quarter, beginning with her 3 from the corner that made it 42-35.

The NIU recruit, who will play for her mother, Lisa Carlsen, with the Huskies, was far from done, however.

She used a nifty behind-the-back dribble through the lane for another two points before ending the quarter with a long 3-pointer as time expired. She finished with a game-high 27 points while also snagging eight rebounds.

“My teammates have so much trust in me to do that kind of stuff,” she said. “They trust that I’ve been putting in a lot of work. I think the jump from last year to this year for me was huge, and all of my coaches and teammates trust me, which gives me all the confidence in the world to put on a little show like that.”

The Spartans had gone from down three at halftime to up 13 heading into the final quarter.

“I think the key all week was that this would be super fun to celebrate the seniors and all we’ve accomplished over the past couple years, but at the same time, you knew we had a group of nine people that knew we still had a job to get done tonight,” CarlsCarln said. “I think we did a realty good job of focusing on the game at hand. We rebounded really well in the third quarter, which was a game changer. Now is the time to celebrate.”

Yorkville (9-4) led by as many as 19-14 early in the second quarter and held onto the modest lead at half after Macie Jones drilled a 3-pointer to finish the first half scoring.

One of the positives for the Foxes was the return of Jones from injury.

“This was her first game in two to three weeks so it’s nice to have her back,” Yorkville coach Kim Wensits said. “She does a lot of little things well and doesn’t necessarily score on it. She’s not afraid to get in there and mix it up in her first varsity year.”

Although just 5-foot-6, Jones played fearlessly.

“She’s misleadingly strong,” Wensits said. “She’s been in the weight room more than anyone in the program. She’s not afraid to get in there and battle against 6-footers.”

Senior Kenzie Sweeney led the Foxes with 12 points while junior Lainey Gussman had seven rebounds.

“In the first half, [Sycamore] had four offensive rebounds and scored on all four of them,” Wensits said. “I think we did a worse job of it in the second half. A lot of it was just effort. Kudos to [Sycamore]. They busted their butt and they got out and they rebounded hard. It felt like they wanted it more than we did.”