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MORRIS — Just the mention of Sycamore vs. Morris brings to mind a hard-nosed, tooth-and-nail type of contest, no matter what the sport.
Friday night was no exception as the Spartans visited Morris and came away with a 57-48 victory that was every bit as physical as any in the long history of the rivalry.
Both teams had to battle for every point, as defenses on both sides were stingy. The competition for space on the floor was fierce, and Sycamore was able to force Morris into 23 turnovers as well as limiting them to 2 of 17 shooting from 3-point range.
“Defense is what we hang our hats on,” Sycamore coach Ethan Franklin said. “We mixed up our looks, threw in some full-court pressure and half-court traps. Morris is a very well-coached team and [Morris coach] Joe [Blumberg] made some adjustments and we had to adjust to his adjustments.
“Our kids did a good job of executing what we wanted them to do.”
Morris (4-4, 1-1) got out to an early 7-2 lead behind a basket by AJ Zweeres, a three-point play by Joey Vinachi and a basket by Caleb Stage. Sycamore, though, went on a 13-6 run to end the quarter with a 15-13 lead, the last four points scored by freshman Xander Lewis. Carter York also had six of his game-high 20 points in the first quarter.
“We wanted to play physical and not give No. 1 [Zweeres] or No. 23 [Jack Wheeler} any good looks. Then, our offense started cutting better, we made some stops on defense and made some shots.
“We knew they were going to continue to play hard. We expected that and knew we had to play just as hard.”
The Spartans (6-3, 3-1) continued the momentum into the second quarter, outscoring Morris 12-1 to start the period to take a 27-14 lead. Morris, though, cut it to 33-23 at halftime on a basket by Blaine Beshoar.
Sycamore built the lead back up to 39-27 in the third before Morris went on a 7-0 run, getting a free throw by Caston Norris, a basket by Stage, a steal and layup by Zweeres and a basket by Wheeler (team-high 14 points, 11 rebounds) to cut it to 39-34 before Sycamore’s Ben Larry (15 points) hit a 3-pointer at the end of the quarter for a 42-34 Spartan lead.
Two points each by York and Lewis and a three-point play on a putback by Larry moved Sycamore out to a 49-34 lead before Zweeres hit Morris’ first 3-pointer of the game. After a free throw by Larry, Vinachi (11 points) hit a 3-pointer, then added an old-fashioned three-point play to pull Morris to within 50-43. A pair of free throws by Norris made it 50-45, but Morris got no closer as York hit four free throws in the final 1:16 to ice the game.
“It’s nice to have a Carter York on the team,” Franklin said. “He is a tremendous leader and captain, and I couldn’t ask for any more out of a player. As long as he is out there for us, we are in good shape.”
Blumberg had nothing but praise for Sycamore’s defensive effort.
“Their 1-2-2 zone disrupted our offensive flow,” he said. “They outworked us in the first half, which is frustrating on our own floor. We took some quick, bad shots early and that let them get out to a big lead. Them having the lead with their quickness is tough. They were able to stretch our defense out and then drive in the gaps.
“Our guys battled back and got to within a couple possessions, but we couldn’t get over that hump. We shot 2 of 17 from 3-point range and missed 11 free throws. We got it to within five a couple times and shot ourselves in the foot.”