Boys basketball: Kaneland remains undefeated with overtime victory vs. Sycamore

Kaneland’s 24-game winning streak to start the season seemed in jeopardy, with Sycamore leading its Interstate Eight Conference rivals by two in the final 15 seconds with the ball.

The Spartans had led by as much as 14 in the first half and 10 in the fourth quarter.

But the Knights forced a turnover on the inbounds pass, then Marshawn Cocroft — about the only player who struggled shooting in the first half — raced coast-to-coast for a layup to force overtime.

Kaneland kept on surging from there, beating Sycamore 73-68 on Saturday in an electric Interstate Eight battle in a packed house and an overflowing student section for both teams.

“We knew we had the last shot and we had to make it count,” Cocroft said. “I got there and we made it to overtime.”

Only one other Kaneland game this year was decided by single digits. The Knights (25-0, 7-0) won the first meeting between the teams 65-56 in another contest the Spartans (19-5, 6-2) led by double digits in the second half.

Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe said that’s what happens when rivals play each other. It happened to Sycamore last month when the Spartans lost to DeKalb at the NIU Convocation Center, even though the Barbs are well under .500 this year.

“It’s two really good teams and I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Colombe said. “You look at their recent game, they played DeKalb. How did DeKalb beat them? Well, it’s the DeKalb-Sycamore rivalry. It’s human nature. You don’t want to lose to a rival.”

Cocroft struggled early, shooting 2-for-11 with six points through the first three quarters. But after missing his first shot in the fourth, he made his next four, including a 3-pointer with 1:37 left that cut the Sycamore lead to 58-56.

Another Cocroft layup made it 62-60 with 41 seconds left. Sycamore got whistled for an offensive foul, but the Knights gave it back on a turnover.

Kaneland ended up trapping Sycamore, forcing a timeout with less than 15 seconds left. The Knights forced the turnover.

“We knew we wanted to get a steal, not foul right away,” Cocroft said. “Try to trap right away. I was behind Marcus (Johnson), I had some room, (Isaiah) Feuerbach ended up touching it, our ball.”

Sycamore coach Ethan Franklin thought Kaneland had fouled intentionally to stop the clock on the play, but no foul was called.

“Marcus came and got it, and I feel like he got pushed in the back,” Franklin said. “Zeke tried to dive on the floor and they called him for being out of bounds. Which, he was out of bounds, but I thought he got pushed in the back. I thought he was getting ready to shoot free throws.”

Kaneland scored the first six points of overtime, four by Jeffrey Hassan. Johnson hit a 3-pointer to get the Spartans back within 3 points, but Cocroft made 3-of-4 free throws sandwiched around a Sycamore turnover to secure the win.

Cocroft finished with a team-best 20 points. Only Xander Lewis scored more, finishing with 22 for the Spartans.

“He’s the best player that we see,” Franklin said. “He’s absolutely fantastic. He found a way and willed his team to a win.”

After a back-and-forth first quarter, the Spartans used a 14-2 run to take a 33-26 lead with 4:10 left in the first half, capped by a 3-pointer by Johnson.

Evan Frieders answered with a 3-pointer for the Knights, but the Spartans surged again with 12 of the next 14 points for a 45-31 lead. Feuerbach hit back-to-back 3s at the end of the run, closing the half 4 for 7 from long range and with 18 points.

He didn’t make a field goal in the second half and finished with 19 points.

“He was on fire, so we decided to face-guard him in the second half and make sure we get back to pressure more,” Cocroft said. “That led to turnovers more in the second half.”

The Spartans turned it over three times in the first half. Kaneland forced its first second-half turnover 33 seconds into the third quarter, and Sycamore finished the game with 17 turnovers.

After Sycamore took a 45-36 lead into halftime, neither team scored much in the third. Sycamore led 54-44, but the Knights scored the first five of the fourth, including a layup by Cocroft.

“Marshawn was battling in the first half,” Colombe said. “He took some good shots that just didn’t go in. But he stuck to the plan. He’s a confident kid and it’s tough to stop him for four quarters.”

Connor Kimme added 18 for the Knights and was 5-for-7 on 3-pointers. Hassan had 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Frieders finished with 12 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Johnson finished with 18 points, while Feuerbach had 11 rebounds. The Spartans shot 53% from the floor in the first half and 23% in the second half and overtime.

“When we bring this attention to detail and focus, we put ourselves in a position to beat anybody,” Franklin said. “But we need to be more consistent and get over the hump.”