Hampshire can't come back against Sycamore

Hampshire could never quite dig itself out of the hole.

After falling behind Sycamore by 7 points after one quarter, the Whip-Purs hung around, but could never get over the hump. The result was a 46-38 defeat in the semifinals of the Class 3A Sycamore girls basketball regional Wednesday night.

The Whips never led in the game but never appeared in danger of getting blown out either. A 3-pointer by Claudia Lazar made it 40-38 with 2 minutes left. But the Spartans answered with 2 free throws by Maddy Johnson. Bailey Gilbert came up with a steal on the next possession and, although she missed the breakaway layup, Johnson was there for the putback to make it 44-38. Johnson added 2 more free throws for the final margin.

Peyton DeChant led Hampshire (21-8) with 10 points. Emma Benoit added 9 points and 7 rebounds and Lazar finished with 9 points.

Johnson scored 7 points in the first quarter as the Spartans took a 15-8 lead. She did not score again until the fourth quarter, when she scored all 10 of the Spartans' points to finish with 17. Gilbert was the outside threat to complement Johnson's inside play. She ended up with 13 points, including three 3-pointers as the second-seeded Spartans (26-2) advanced to play top seed and No. 2 ranked Burlington Central (26-3) Friday at 7 p.m. for the regional title after BC avoided Kaneland's upset bid with a 44-38 win.

"The big thing was (we couldn't get) that one stop we were looking for," said Hampshire coach Mike Featherly. "Give credit to them, they ran some stuff we just couldn't stop. The loose balls were theirs, we just couldn't get that break.

"This wasn't our smartest game. Unfortunately, you can't do that against a team like Sycamore."

The game was tied at 2-2 when Sycamore went on an 8-2 run to go ahead 10-4, and that was pretty much it. The Spartans never led by more than 9 or fewer than 2 points the rest of the way.

The stats were pretty much even. Both teams made 15 field goals, and Sycamore held a narrow 18-17 rebounding advantage.

Despite the disappointing loss, Featherly could look back on a surprisingly successful season.

"We had high expectations for them and they definitely exceeded them," he said. "If you told me going into the season that we'd be 21-8, I would definitely take the money and run."