Kaneland prevails on Williams' jumper
Donavan Williams finally made the Sycamore defense pay for its unusual defense.
The Kaneland senior guard, with the Spartans deployed to deny the Knights' 6-foot-9 Holy Cross-bound post Dave Dudzinski, hit a 12-foot jumper from left of the elbow with six seconds remaining to give the Knights a 48-46 Western Sun Conference boys basketball victory over the Spartans in Sycamore Friday night.
"They were sagging (on Dudzinski) the whole game," Williams said. "We had a set play called (out of the timeout with 14.6 seconds remaining). They left me open, and I took the shot. (The Spartans' concern with Dudzinski) was probably why I was open on the last play."
"We wanted someone (other than Dudzinski) to beat us," Sycamore coach Jeff Hillmer said.
Sycamore (10-12 overall, 3-8 in the league) rallied from a 29-23 halftime deficit by nearly trebling the Knights' output with a 17-point third quarter.
Sam Ford, the Spartans' junior center, scored 9 of his game-high 21 points in the quarter while Sycamore simultaneously limited the turnover-prone Knights into a 3-for-9 performance from the field in taking a 40-35 lead after three quarters.
But the fourth quarter witnessed another turn of events.
This time is was Sycamore which suffered from the field, missing its first 8 shots and failing to score for over six minutes.
"That's pretty much the game right there," Hillmer said. "We were relying on jump shots."
Kaneland (14-8, 6-6) reversed its 5-point deficit and turned it into a 5-point advantage; Taylor Andrews, inserted into the game moments earlier for the first time all night, had a critical 3-point play to tie the game at 40-40.
Dudzinski, who tied Steve Colombe with team-scoring honors with 13 points while hauling down 10 rebounds and blocking 3 shots, tipped home another miss on the ensuing Kaneland possession.
Playing for the second time in less than a week, Sycamore employed a peculiar look to limit Dudzinski.
"I had never seen anything like it," Dudzinski said. "Three guys were in a man-to-man (on the perimeter) and two guys were playing zone (in the paint)."
Dudzinski split the bonus with 43.6 seconds to give Kaneland a 46-44 lead, but Ford, with Dudzinski relegated to the bench with four fouls, scored off a Knights overplay to knot the game again at 46-46 with 25 seconds remaining.
But Williams' game-winner foiled the Spartans' strategy of denying Dudzinski at all costs.
"I think they were worried about Duds flashing up, and that gave (Williams) a wide-open shot," Kaneland coach Brian Johnson said.
Colombe collected all 13 of his points in the opening half for Kaneland.
In the girls preliminary, Montia Johnson paced four Sycamore players in double figures with a game-high 16 points to pace the Spartans' 62-52 victory.
Mallory Carlson had 13 points to lead the Knights (5-21, 0-14), and Emily Heimerdinger added 10 points.
Recent sophomore call-up Kylie Siebert hit three 3-pointers to finish with 11 points for the Knights.