Boys basketball: Sycamore 2nd-half surge drops Mendota

SYCAMORE – Carter York and Xander Lewis combined for 19 third-quarter points in Sycamore’s 52-43 nonconference win over Mendota on Wednesday.

That was after a first half in which the Spartans managed only 15 points and were down by a point at the break.

“I think we definitely showed a little resilience,” York said. “It’s tough being down at halftime, but we always come out strong in the second half.”

Even though the Spartans (5-3) had an 11-0 run in the second quarter, they still trailed the Trojans (5-6) 16-15 at halftime. Mendota scored the final five points of the half in less than a minute after going almost seven minutes without a point.

The teams traded buckets to start the second half. Then the Spartans took off, going on a 26-6 run to take command. The Trojans didn’t get within single digits until a bucket by Owen Aughenbaugh with 40 seconds left.

“Ultimately we got the job done in the third quarter,” Sycamore coach Ethan Franklin said. “We really started pushing the pace. I didn’t think our pace was where we wanted it to be, where we’ve been this season.”

Mendota spent most of the game in a 1-3-1 zone. Coach Steve Wasmer said the Trojans don’t usually run a lot of zone, but did so against the Spartans.

It worked in the first half. Sycamore had just four first-quarter points.

“I knew they were going to talk about the 1-3-1 that we were in the whole halftime,” Wasmer said. “We actually played man the first possession of the second half and got a stop. Then we went back to zone and picked it apart. He did an excellent job adjusting. We don’t normally play zone. We did it for tonight, and I’m happy with the way it went for a little bit.”

York finished with 15 points after scoring just two in the first half. He scored 11 in the third quarter.

“After halftime we pushed the pace more and started making our baskets a little more,” York said. “We started to push the ball more, and if they made a shot, we’d just take it out instantly, pass it up the floor and finish.”

The Spartans also benefited from the play of Lewis, a freshman who hadn’t played on the varsity team since the first week of the season. He hit a couple 3-pointers in the third quarter and scored eight points in the quarter.

He finished the game with 10 points, one of two Spartans in double figures.

“There were some lulls we were having, and Xander is somebody that brings a ton of energy every single day and every single practice and every game,” Franklin said. “I thought that was a good time to get him an opportunity, and I thought he really capitalized and extended that in the third quarter. ... Being a freshman and being able to step into that is awesome.”

The Trojans were coming off a 52-49 against Three Rivers Conference foe Hall on Tuesday. Wasmer said in addition to the tough defense of the Spartans, he felt his club was tired.

A big chunk of the Trojans— poor shooting, Wasmer said, was due to tired legs. They shot 3 for 21 from 3-point range, and Wasmer said most of those shots came up short - a sure sign of fatigue.

“I was worried about energy, especially playing Sycamore,” Wasmer said “They’re big and strong and physical, but I thought we did a good job. One quarter killed us.”

Izaiah Nañez led the Trojans with 10 points, while Jace Baird had a team-best five rebounds off the bench. Cameron Kelly had six points, three steals and three rebounds.

Ben Larry added a game-best seven rebounds to go with nine points, two blocks and two steals. Jakob Shipley also had seven rebounds, two steals and a blocks along with two points.

“We’ve been really focusing on trying to be a better third-quarter team,” Franklin said. “The fact they were able to respond was good and hopeful moving forward.”