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Sycamore deals Kaneland first loss

Kaneland's girls basketball team has beaten up on its opponents this season.

The Knights haven't really been challenged thus far, winning by an average of 46 points in their first six games.

That all changed on Tuesday when they welcomed defending Northern Illinois Big 12 East champion Sycamore into Maple Park for their stiffest test of the young season.

For the first time all year, the Knights found themselves down at halftime, and while they had a valiant effort in rallying to make it close at the end, they ultimately fell short, losing 54-49.

"I was happy with the way we battled back, but we got out of our flow a little there in the first and second quarter which allowed them to build their lead," Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe said. "We started settling for some shots and they took advantage of it and extended their lead."

Sycamore (4-2, 2-0) fell behind 8-2 early, but held the Knights scoreless for nearly six minutes, closing out the quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 10-8 lead as the Knights committed six turnovers.

Kaneland (6-1, 1-1) recaptured the lead at 14-13 on Camri Conley's putback with 4:55 left in the half, but the Spartans outscored the Knights 12-3 to take a 25-17 advantage at the half.

Starters Jenni Weber, Morgan Weber and Madi Edwards, and usual starter Bailey Crimmins, who returned from an injury, were all held scoreless in the first half. Moreover, three of the four players got in foul trouble, each picking up two fouls.

"We had to keep rotating people and the bottom line was (Sycamore's) defense did a great job," Colombe said. "Because of the foul trouble we had to play small quite a bit. The kids battled, but they executed and we didn't."

Both of the Weber sisters hit 3-pointers and Crimmins added a basket inside before Jamie Martens split a pair of free throws with 2:19 remaining in the third quarter to cut Sycamore's lead to 29-28.

"We talked at halftime about that and how a good team like this is going to come at you," Sycamore coach Brett Goff said. "We had to weather the storm and for a while I was kind of displeased that we were just trading buckets."

The Spartans took their biggest lead of the game at 41-30 on Chloe Goff's basket with 7:21 remaining in the game, but the Knights wouldn't go down easily.

They pulled all the way to within 50-47 on Conley's steal and layup with 30 seconds left in the game. Then they forced a turnover, but turned the ball right back over.

The Spartans sealed the game by making all 8 of their free throws in the final minute.

Conley led the Knights with 12 points while Vanessa Gould and Morgan Weber each scored 12 points.

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