Girls basketball: Explosive Sycamore offense to clash against stingy DeKalb defense

The magic number just might be 45 when the DeKalb girls basketball team takes on Sycamore at 6 p.m. Friday in the annual rivalry game at the NIU Convocation.

When DeKalb allows fewer than 45 points in a game, it’s 14-3 this season. More than that, and the Barbs are 0-7. Not to mention Sycamore is 2-5 when not reaching 45 points in a game.

“We’ve held some teams in the teens and various numbers,” DeKalb coach Brad Bjelk said. “So I mean, defense has been an emphasis all season, and it really comes down to these girls that they’re willing to work hard.

“Defense is a mentality, and these girls are tough girls. That’s what makes us a good defensive unit.”

Sycamore (16-9) has won 15 straight games against DeKalb (14-10), including a record-setting 55-12 win last year. It was the fewest points allowed by either team in a game since they started playing annually at the Convo in 2004.

Bjelk said his team already has proved itself throughout the season after going 11-19 in 2022-23. Sycamore coach Adam Wickness said it’s a different DeKalb team.

“They’re a lot better than they were last year,” Wickness said. “They’re still pretty young‚ start a lot of juniors. They don’t have a ton of seniors, so they’re young, they’re hungry, and this is one of those games you throw everything out the window because the atmosphere of the Convocation Center kind of neutralizes any team’s true advantage.”

The Spartans are led by NIU signee Lexi Carlsen, who became the program’s all-time assist leader this season. Between seniors Carlsen, Sophia Klacik and Monroe McGhee, the Spartans have a versatile offense that can drop a lot of 3-pointers on the competition. Sycamore has scored more than 55 points 10 times this season, winning nine of those games.

Carlsen said if the Spartans take anything for granted, the Barbs will make them pay.

“I think we’re both very different teams,” Carlsen said. “If we come out with the same mentality we did last year, we might struggle a little bit. We need to start fresh, take these next two days to really focus and lock down on what DeKalb has and do what we need to do offensively.”

The Barbs have been balanced on offense all season, but Cayla Evans has taken over games at times and is the only senior starter for DeKalb.

But it’s been the DeKalb defense that has been the backbone of the team’s season, especially after an 0-3 start.

They’ve had a pair of games in which they’ve held a team under 20 points, including a 39-14 win last week against Metea Valley.

“They’re very physical, they’re very aggressive,” Wickness said. “They play in a big conference, so they’re used to seeing good teams consistently. I think if we can come out and handle the atmosphere and the pressure they put on us, we can use that to our advantage.”

The Barbs last played Monday, a 53-36 home loss to Naperville North in which the Huskies sank 10 3-pointers in the first half to take command. But they also gave up only 16 second-half points, including holding Naperville North to four in the third quarter as they cut a 22-point lead down to 10.

“We’ve been playing some really good basketball,” Bjelk said. “I don’t think any of these girls are going to let [Monday] get them down. They’re all strong mentally and physically. We’re a completely different team from last year, completely different mind frame. I think we still have a lot of momentum going into Friday.”

DeKalb junior Kiki Mitchell said the defense has been clicking thanks to the team playing together as one. She said coming away with the win over the Spartans would mean a lot to the program.

“For DeKalb, that’s something that would be a big honor to us,” Mitchell said. “It’s near and dear to the heart.”