Girls basketball: Grace Amptmann’s hot hand helps Sycamore score first 30 against Rochelle

SYCAMORE – The scoring for the Sycamore girls basketball team has come mainly from seniors Monroe McGhee, Lexi Carlsen and Sophia Klacik so far this year.

On Tuesday in a 64-34 win against Rochelle, Grace Amptmann provided a scoring burst early during a 30-0 Spartans run to start the game, and Quinn Carrier provided it late to close out the Interstate 8 Conference victory.

[ Rochelle at Sycamore photos ]

“I think when everyone on our team is scoring, it works out really good,” said Amptmann, who had 11 points, all in the first three quarters.

It took the sophomore guard barely 30 seconds to nail a corner 3-pointer to put the Spartans on the board. She also had four rebounds and a steal in the win.

Sycamore (7-1, 2-0 I-8) forced 15 first-quarter turnovers in keeping the Hubs (3-7, 0-1) off the board for the first eight minutes. The Spartans turned those into 21 points at the offensive end.

Sycamore coach Adam Wickness saw the Hubs in their 55-42 home loss to DeKalb last month and said he thought his team could have success applying defensive pressure.

“We knew they turned the ball over a little bit,” Wickness said. “So we wanted to put some pressure on them. I watched the DeKalb game against Rochelle, and once they put the pressure on them they kind of fell apart a little bit. We knew that was something we wanted to target.”

Rochelle went on a 17-8 run to start the second quarter and got as close as 44-20 in the second half. Sycamore didn’t get the lead back to over 30 until a 13-0 run in the third and fourth quarters to trigger the running clock.

[ A day before the Sycamore girls beat Rochelle, the boys came from behind to beat the Hubs ]

Carrier had a layup during that run and all six of Sycamore’s fourth-quarter points. She was 3 for 5 from long range in the game to tie Carlsen with a game-high 14.

Wickness said he liked the way Amptmann played in the game following the Spartans’ win Monday at Dixon, which also started with her hitting a 3-pointer.

“I thought she was running the floor really well,” Wickness said. “She leaked out, just like she did against Dixon on Monday night, and you’re like, ‘All right, Grace likes that first touch.’ She played really well tonight.”

Alivia Henkel led Rochelle with eight points. Klacik had eight points for Sycamore, Carlsen had eight rebounds and five points, and Megan Brannon had five rebounds off the bench.

Amptmann is the only sophomore among four senior starters, but there’s youth littered in other spots. Carrier is just a freshman. Cortni Kruizenga, who along with Carrier is one of the first three subs usually in the game, is a sophomore.

“We’ve got a nice mix of experience and youth on this team,” Wickness said. “I think the youth are in a great position where they’ve ... got some really good mentors that are going to show them the way on how to find success when they become upperclassmen, and then they move up and do the same things. That’s how you build success.”