Unique Shaw goes off in the third, powers Sycamore past Winnebago

SYCAMORE – Unique Shaw had a one-of-a-kind third quarter, draining five 3-pointers and scoring 23 points, helping Sycamore trigger a running clock in a 65-40 win over Winnebago on Monday.

Shaw finished with 25 points in the victory.

“My guys just found me open and I couldn’t stop making it. Every shot was in. That helped,” Shaw said. “It feels good, really boosts your confidence.”

The Spartans (17-5) came out with hot shooting in the first half behind Isaiah Feuerbach, who scored 12 in the first quarter and helped stake the Spartans to a 20-8 lead.

But the team cooled off in the second quarter, scoring nine points. After Myles Smith opened the third with a putback, the Indians (7-13) had cut the lead to 29-19.

But Feuerbach answered with back-to-back 3s, then after an Indians bucket, 3s by Shaw bookended a 12-0 Sycamore run to push the lead to 45-21.

“Some of our shots didn’t go in second quarter,” Feuerbach said. “But third quarter, second half we locked in and made a lot of shots, especially Unique making all of his 3s.”

Sycamore coach Ethan Franklin said his team was taking some bad shots in the second quarter, something it fixed in the third.

“In the third quarter we were kind of playing within a flow,” Franklin said. “We took what the defense gave us and were able to convert. When we play in a flow, I think we look much better.”

Sycamore scored 29 in the third quarter, with a 3 by Shaw at the buzzer putting them up 30 and triggering a running clock for the fourth quarter.

Franklin said he’s been stressing the third quarter as a fork in the road, where it can become a game or they can blow it open. He said the Spartans did a good job of extending the lead to make it a comfortable second half.

“We can’t let those types of teams be in a close game with us,” Shaw said. “We have to assert our dominance so it’s a running clock.”

Feuerbach finished with 19 points and four rebounds for the Spartans, while Jakob Shipley had seven points and nine rebounds.

Smith finished with 13 points, the only Winnebago player in double digits. The Indians were 15 of 40 from the floor.

“We were pretty dialed in on a couple of their guys,” Franklin said. “We took them out of their comfort zone and that forced them into tough looks. We did a great job of rebounding it and keeping it to one possession.”