Marshawn Cocroft, Kaneland defense topple DeKalb

MAPLE PARK – Sean Reynolds and DeKalb were red-hot in the first half against Kaneland, opening up as much as a 12-point lead.

In the second half, with the Barbs' lead down to 3, Marshawn Cocroft took on the duties of guarding Reynolds and the Knights' fortunes changed.

The Knights clawed back on top early in the fourth quarter and never relinquished the lead in a 58-54 win over the Barbs on Tuesday.

“Coach told me I’m going to take a shot at him first, and I stopped him,” Cocroft said. “So he saw that and we just kept him out of the game. As we kept getting stops on the defensive end, we scored more on offense.”

Reynolds was 4 of 5 from the floor with 10 points. He had an early step-back 3-pointer that capped an 8-0 run after Kaneland (20-1) scored the first seven points.

Later in the first DeKalb (16-6) went on a 15-0 run into the second quarter, staking the Barbs to a 23-11 lead after back-to-back layups by Davon Grant with 6:54 left in the half.

“We knew they had two main great players and we had to take the two of them out,” Cocroft said of Reynolds and the 6-foot-4 Grant. “Sean was on fire in the first half, and we knew we had to stop him in the second half.”

The Knights trimmed the lead to 31-28 at the break and the third quarter was a back-and-forth battle between the teams with five lead changes and a tie.

The Barbs had a surge late in the third quarter with an alley oop from Jackson Kees to Grant then a 3-pointer by Marquise Bolden that gave them a 40-35 lead.

The Knights scored the next 10, including a pair of 3s by Cocroft, and led 45-40 with 7:07 left in the game after a layup by Cocroft, and never trailed again.

“We put multiple guys on [Reynolds] early and our plan was to switch in the second half and give him a different look,” Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe said. “We put Marshawn on him, and Marshawn’s quickness seemed to work down the stretch. But he gave us fits all night, that kid, he’s as good off the ball as anybody.”

Reynolds finished with 14 points and three steals in the loss. Bolden finished with 12 points and four rebounds while Grant added 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Barbs trimmed the lead to 51-48 with 1:42 left but couldn’t get the next bucket. Cocroft made a free throw with 49.2 seconds remaining and DeKalb never got within a single possession again.

“We had stretches where we were really good, but uncharacteristically we had some mental errors offensively that we normally don’t have,” DeKalb coach Mike Reynolds said. “Their length gave us a little trouble on the glass, but we’ve got to be better. ... It almost seemed like we had some mental fatigue at times out there, give them credit, they played really well.”

DeKalb had won the past two games in the series against the former conference rivals.

Mike Reynolds said this wasn’t a bucket-list game for the Barbs – all the goals they want to reach are still in play, including contending for a DuPage Valley Conference title and winning a regional.

“There’s a lot of things we can still do,” Mike Reynolds said. “Anytime you play a game you want to win, but tip your hat to them. It seemed like the game meant a lot to them.”

Cocroft led the Knights with 23 points, while the 6-9 Freddy Hassan added 15 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Isaiah Gipson scored nine of the bench for Kaneland.

Colombe said he liked the way the Class 3A Knights battled back against the 4A Barbs. In front of a full house in the Kaneland gym, Cocroft said it is a contest that will prepare the team for the postseason.

“If you want to make a deep run, we’re going to see big schools, big teams like that,” Cocroft said. “It’s just getting us ready for playing those bigger schools and good competition.”