Tough fourth quarter does in Hampshire
Hampshire's girls basketball team appeared to be in a good position to knock off Sycamore Tuesday night.
Until the fourth quarter.
Junior Nikki Dumoulin stole the basketball at midcourt and went in for a layup with four seconds left in the third quarter to send the nonconference game with regional seeding implications on the line into the fourth quarter tied at 24-24.
But the Whip-Purs couldn't sustain the momentum and Sycamore leading scorer Bailey Gilbert hit for 7 of her 10 points in the final frame as the Spartans, who are receiving votes in the AP Class 3A state poll, downed host Hampshire 41-29.
"We battled," said Hampshire coach Mike Featherly. "We shut down (Gilbert) pretty well. Nikki Lazar did a great job on her. We gave ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter unfortunately we couldn't put the ball in the hoop and we missed a couple opportunities."
Hampshire (11-5), which has lost three straight, made just 2 of 7 shots in the fourth quarter while Sycamore (15-2) was 6-for-8.
"We should have played more as a team," said Hampshire sophomore Peyton DeChant, who scored 8 points and had 6 rebounds. "We were a little tired in the fourth quarter but that shouldn't be a factor for us. That's disappointing."
The Whip-Purs jumped out to a 10-2 lead on the strength of 6 first-quarter points from 6-foot junior Emma Benoit. The Whips led 13-8 after the first quarter but Sycamore's inside defense toughened up, the Spartans started denying the entry pass and Benoit scored just 2 points in the final three quarters.
"(Hampshire) did an excellent job of coming out of the gate on their home floor," said Sycamore coach Brett Goff. "We weren't ready to play and then we realized these guys were for real. We had to do a better job of knowing where Benoit was and we did."
By halftime Sycamore had surged to an 18-17 lead as Gilbert hit a 3-pointer with 1:41 left in the half to give the Spartans their first lead since 2-0. Sycamore never trailed in the second half. Gilbert hit a 3 with 6:04 left in the game to make it 29-26 but after a basket by junior Miah Thompson with 5:41 left made it 29-28, the Spartans went on a 6-0 run and Hampshire got no closer than 6 the rest of the way. Gilbert went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 44 seconds to seal the win.
"I'm real proud of the effort, especially coming off Saturday's game when it wasn't really there," said Featherly, referring to his team's 15-point loss at Prairie Ridge. "It was nice to see us respond better. We just had a couple breakdowns on defense in the fourth quarter."
Sophomore Rachel Dumoulin had 7 points for the Whip-Purs, who shot 12 of 36 for the game and won the rebounding battle 23-21, led by 8 from Benoit. Senior 6-foot-2 DeKalb transfer Madelyne Johnson added 10 points and 8 rebounds for Sycamore, which made 16 of its 33 field goal attempts.
The win pretty much assures Sycamore of a top-two seed for the Class 3A regional next month the Spartans play host to, a regional that includes Burlington Central, St. Edward, Hampshire, Genoa-Kingston and Kaneland.
"Our regional is ridiculously loaded," said Goff, whose team was eliminated by Burlington Central in the sectional semifinals last year. "You hate to say this was a must-win game but if we didn't win this game it would be tough to say we deserve a top two seed."