Sycamore surprises cold-shooting Kaneland
Beating 5-16 Sycamore Saturday turned out to be just as hard for Kaneland as getting the game itself started.
With officials thinking the 4:30 p.m. tip was supposed to be 7, by the time they showed the game had been delayed an hour.
Kaneland appeared just as slow starting, falling behind by 10 at halftime and never catching up in a surprising 51-42 defeat.
Surprising not just because Sycamore (5-16, 1-6) won its first Northern Illinois Big Twelve East game, but it was the same Spartan team Kaneland (13-7, 4-3) pounded by 28 in their previous meeting.
"You don't get ready to play teams that want to win, that's what happens," Kaneland coach Brian Johnson said. "They are a well-coached team and they came out wanting to get a win and we came out nonchalant and that's what happens."
Before getting to the details of what exactly happened to the Knights in the game, here's what a crowd coming to a boys-girls doubleheader saw before it.
4:14 p.m.: Things started normally enough as the Sycamore sophomores finish off a 52-42 win over Kaneland's sophs. The varsity teams take the court and start going through their layup lines.
4:35: The varsity teams complete warm-ups.
4:36: Instead of the normal player introductions, the teams return to their benches and wait. And wait.
4:42-4:50: Kaneland senior Marceil Neil and sophomore Tyler Carlson square off in a 3-point contest.
4:44: Drew David works on his free throws
5:05: Kaneland's cheerleaders perform a routine the announcer says they will use at state.
5:08: Sycamore's players warm up again.
5:14: Kaneland's pom-pom team welcomes about 25 elementary students to join them in a crowd-pleasing routine.
5:18: The officials walk onto the court to what must have been the first cheers in IHSA history for the men in stripes.
5:19: The clock resets to three minutes for more warumps.
5:22: The Kaneland band performs the national anthem.
5:24: The starting lineups are introduced.
5:28: Jump ball!
5:30: It takes two minutes for those cheers from a few moments earlier to turn to boos for those same officials when Trever Heinle is whistled for traveling on a drive instead of an "and-1" opportunity.
Needless to say, not the normal start to a game, but Johnson refused to use it as an excuse.
"It didn't have an effect on Sycamore so it shouldn't have an effect on us," Johnson said. "Just the nature of the beast."
Kaneland never led in the game. The Knights were tied just once at 2-2 on a Heinle jumper.
Sycamore jumped to a 14-7 lead after the first quarter, then held the Knights to 3-of-9 shooting from the field for the second straight quarter to build a 24-14 halftime lead.
Kaneland hit just 32 percent for the game (17 of 53). Its one good stretch came to start the second half when a Heinle basket followed by David's 3 and a Thomas Williams putback brought the Knights within 24-21.
The Spartans had the immediate answer with back-to-back 3s from Brandon Spartz-Raikes. They were back up 34-24 going to the fourth quarter and the closest the Knights got from there was 49-42 on a Williams corner 3 with 1:11 left and Kaneland never scored again.
"We were very undisciplined on the defensive end after we cut it down to 3," Johnson said. "They hit some big shots and we could never get that close again."
Williams led Kaneland with 14 points, all in the second half.