Basketball: Ottawa boys, Sycamore girls score tight victories in Interstate 8 twin bill

SYCAMORE – Sycamore hosted Ottawa on Friday in a rare boys-first, girls-in-prime time Interstate 8 Conference doubleheader, with Ottawa’s boys and Sycamore’s girls both grinding out close victories.

Boys: Ottawa 32, Sycamore 29

Points were hard to come by in the twin bill’s opener, especially in the first half, but Ottawa (3-3 overall, 1-1 in the I-8) came away with a hard-fought, physical road win over Sycamore (4-3, 2-1).

“We knew coming over tonight this was going to be the type of game it as,” Pirates coach Mark Cooper said, “and the first half wasn’t pretty at all for either team. We were a little bit better the second half offensively, able to play with a little more pace, and we’re just happy to be able to get a road win.

“I know it didn’t show, but we worked really hard on offense all week at practice. We made some little strides, but when you defend, you always give yourself a chance.”

The Spartans misfired on six shots from the field and a pair of free throws while committing one turnover before scoring their first points on a Carter York layup off a nice-look Diego Garcia assist 5:25 in. On the other end, Ottawa missed seven shot attempts plus one free-throw try and turned the ball over four times before Evan Snook sank a free throw to get the Pirates on the scoreboard with 1:13 remaining in the opening quarter.

By half’s end, the hosts led the Pirates 12-9.

Ottawa’s third-quarter burst of offense led by Keevon Peterson’s 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting – most coming in transition layups or half-court drives to the hoop – proved to be not just the only real offensive spark of the game. It also proved to be the difference.

With the three-point halftime deficit transformed into a 24-21 lead for the Pirates heading to the fourth, Sycamore climbed as close as one point, 30-29, on a pair of Preston Picolotti free throws with 3:26 remaining. The Spartans didn’t score from there, however, despite getting two open 3s in the closing seconds and offensive rebounds on both.

“We wanted to get the ball inside, and I felt there were some inconsistencies from the stripes [officials[, and it just kind of is what it is,” Sycamore coach Ethan Franklin said. “I thought we were getting the looks that we were trying to in our game plan, and unfortunately they just didn’t go in for us tonight.”

Picolotti finished with seven points; York had eight before fouling out; and Ben Larry had nine points, eight rebounds and four steals. Sycamore shot 26.3% with 15 turnovers.

Ottawa, which shot 31.4% with 14 giveaways, was led by Peterson’s 14 points and three steals. Huston Hart added eight points, with Cooper Knoll pitching in four points and a team-best seven rebounds.

Girls: Sycamore 52, Ottawa 48

The girls game between the perennial I-8 contenders was the night’s main event. It lived up to the billing.

Lexi Carlsen followed her game-tying steal/layup combo with 1:31 remaining by going 4 for 4 at the free-throw line over the final 46 seconds to finish with a game-high 16 points and lift Sycamore (8-1, 3-0) past the upset-minded Pirates (3-6, 0-2). Ottawa led most of the way, including 20-11 after one quarter, 36-35 heading into the fourth and 48-46 after a Hailey Larsen wide-open layup with 2:15 remaining.

“They came out guns blazing, and that’s what you expect,” Spartans coach Adam Wickness said. “Coach [Brent] Moore is a fantastic coach, always has the girls ready for us … but I just thought with as rocky as a start as it was, we did a really good job making adjustments.

“We held them to five points in the second quarter [after Ottawa scored 20 in the first], and from there just kind of ground one out. That’s what you have to do sometimes when things aren’t necessarily clicking for you.”

In addition to Carlsen’s 16-point, eight-rebound, five-assist, three-steal performance, Sycamore received 10 points from Grace Amptmann, seven courtesy of Megan Brannon, six from Cortni Kruizenga and five including a key late-game three-point play from Monroe McGhee, who missed much of the proceedings with foul trouble.

Ottawa, which outshot Sycamore 40.5%-36.4% and won the turnover battle 12-9 but was outrebounded 28-24, was paced by Kendall Lowery (12 points, nine rebounds, four assists), Larsen (11 points, three steals), Skylar Dorsey (nine points) and Mary Stisser (six points, five rebounds before fouling out with 10.1 seconds to play).

“Listen, we came in here on the road with a lot of youth and trying to build game upon game, getting better every night,” Moore said. “We’re in a hostile environment in a 7 o’clock primetime game with the best team in the conference, and we showed that we are making those strides.

“There is that progress, and we’re going to use this game as a foundation going forward.”