‘Confident’ Olivia Schermerhorn gets DeKalb rolling in win over Rockford East

DeKALB – Olivia Schermerhorn exudes confidence.

The DeKalb junior is confident in her shot and her ability to find the open shooter and her teammates.

On Wednesday, Schermerhorn drilled two of her four 3-pointers in the first quarter as the Barbs separated from visiting Rockford East early and coasted to a 52-6 win.

“I have lot of confidence and worked on it in the offseason,” she said. “I worked on my game a lot and developed a lot of new skills and took it into the new season knowing I worked hard and am playing my best. I use that as motivation every time I play.”

Schermerhorn led the Barbs with 18 points.

“She has been one of our best shooters this year,” DeKalb coach Brad Bjelk said. “When she can get her feet set, she can really knock it down. She’s hit some big shots all season as well as last season. She’s a hard worker so it was good to see her have a good night.”

Rockford East (2-19) got a jumper from Annalise Adams on the game’s opening possession.

The E-Rabs wouldn’t score again in the quarter as the Barbs built a 15-2 lead.

DeKalb (15-7) suffered through a seven-minute stretch without a field goal in the second quarter but it didn’t matter because the E-Rabs went scoreless for 15 minutes.

Rockford East finally got a basket inside from Azauria Brooks with 40 seconds before halftime for its first points since Adams scored.

Schermerhorn’s 3-pointer right before the halftime buzzer gave the Barbs a 26-4 lead.

“She knocks them down,” DeKalb senior Kezaria Mitchell said of Schermerhorn. “And she’s got a good eye on the court. She’s good at seeing it all.”

After outscoring the E-Rabs 20-2 in the third quarter, the Barbs sparked a running clock in the final quarter.

Bjelk’s daughter, freshman Janai Howard, scored all seven of her points in a little over the final two minutes in the third quarter. All told, the Barbs received 25 points from their bench with Mitchell leading the way with eight points.

“It’s nice when some of those players that play a lot of minutes do the job and can get time for those girls that bust their butt in practice everyday,” Bjelk said “Those girls work just as hard as the starters and when they see the floor and have some success it’s really good, too. The girls that come off the floor were cheering and were just as excited. We have a great culture this year.”

The 15 wins match last season’s total for DeKalb (15-17).

“The girls have been putting in a lot of work from the summer into the fall and right now that hard work is paying off,” Bjelk said. “We brought back a good group of seniors, brought back a good group of juniors and we got some young players who are contributing to what has been a successful season so far.”

They were mindful of Rockford East while knowing a big DVC game looms Friday at Naperville North. They beat the Huskies 48-37 on Dec. 6.

“We just came in to work hard (because we) have a big game on Friday,” Schermerhorn said. “We used this as motivation to kind of get our offense going, playing together to get ready for that big game.”