Girls basketball: Sycamore has record-setting performance in 55-12 win against DeKalb

SYCAMORE – With a 55-12 win over DeKalb in the annual challenge cup game, Sycamore made some history.

Since the annual game started being played at the NIU Convocation Center in 2004, no team in the series held its opponent to fewer points than the 12 the Spartans allowed the Barbs to score Friday.

“It was really fun because it wasn’t just a select individual,” said Sycamore center Evyn Carrier, who had four steals and two blocks in the win. “Everyone contributed, and team wins are always the best wins.”

In 2007, DeKalb beat Sycamore 51-14 for the previous fewest points allowed in the series. DeKalb went the first 13 minutes without a field goal Friday, and Sycamore held the Barbs without a point for the final 14:12.

“It’s one of those things when it was [eight points] at halftime, I told them, ‘Hey, you just held a varsity team to eight points in a half. That’s outstanding,” Sycamore coach Adam Wickness said. “We made a couple small goals we wanted to accomplish in the second half, and I thought we checked all those off. They did a really great job of making sure they took it personal when they scored on us.”

It took the Spartans (16-11) more than two minutes to score their first points, but they got rolling from there, with Carrier scoring four points during a 14-second stretch thanks to a steal and a layup.

The lead grew to as much as 30-2 in the second quarter. DeKalb (11-14) got it down to 32-12 early in the third after a 3-pointer by Alicia Johnson, but those would be the last points for the Barbs.

DeKalb missed its first 12 shots of the game until Ella Medina sank a 3-pointer with 3:02 left in the first half.

“If you make a couple of those open shots, you’re feeling better about the next shot,” DeKalb coach Brad Bjelk said. “We couldn’t quite get the first few to fall. And of course that kind of hurts the confidence, hurts the momentum.”

The win over the Barbs was Sycamore’s 15th straight against DeKalb, including nine straight at the Convocation Center.

Last year, Sycamore entered the game 23-0, and the Barbs tied the score in the final minute. She said the team learned a lesson from that game, which ended up a 56-51 win for the Spartans.

“Obviously, we never look past DeKalb, never look past this game,” Carrier said. “Honestly, looking at last year, we had a way better record than them, and it was still close. We take it very seriously every year.”

Carrier had 16 points and seven rebounds, both tied for game highs. Lexi Carlsen added 16 points to go with six rebounds and two steals.

Sycamore forced 24 turnovers, including 23 through the first three quarters before the running clock took effect for all of the fourth.

“They kind of threw the ball all over the place, which is one of the game plans we wanted,” Wickness said. “We wanted to make sure they felt it a little bit, our defensive pressure.”

Olivia Schermerhorn and Johnson, both freshmen, led DeKalb with seven rebounds each. Johnson and Medina, a sophomore, scored four each.

“We’re a young team, so we have to keep working,” Bjelk said. “We keep working on fundamentals, installing and implementing the principles we want to run offensively and defensively, we keep building to the future with the core group. The seniors have done a good job leading the way. We just keep working at it and try to make a push here.”