Kaneland hands DeKalb 1st conference loss
Ryan David's night didn't begin well Friday. The Kaneland senior picked up a couple fouls in the first quarter and headed to the bench.
David didn't pout, didn't hang his head, and he returned to score a team-high 15 points including a pair of 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter and erase a 6-point deficit. The Knights came from behind for a 62-56 win, handing DeKalb its first Northern Illinois Big XII East loss.
“Getting 2 quick fouls is tough, it took me out of my game but the bunch encouraged me,” David said. “We were able to get hot and finish the game. My teammates were able to screen for me, find me open and I was able to knock them down.”
DeKalb (21-4, 9-1) led 48-44 going to the fourth quarter. After Luke Davis extended the lead to 6, David's back-to-back 3s tied the game at 50-50.
“I feel like Ethan Conroy was kind of going off so all of a sudden they stayed on him tight and opened up other guys,” Knights coach Joe Conroy said. “That was kind of our vision when the season started was we had more weapons than one or two guys.”
Dylan Vaca scored the next 4 points for the Knights at the free-throw line, putting Kaneland ahead 54-52 with 3:46 remaining — its first lead since 9-8.
Kaneland (14-6, 7-2), who made 17 of 24 free throws, took the lead for good 56-54 on Mark Lilly's 2 free throws with 3:18 to go. Vaca split a pair for a 57-54 lead, which DeKalb cut to 1 on Cole Tucker's basket.
Kaneland dodged two bullets in the final minute. After Ethan Conroy made 1 of 2 free throws for a 58-56 lead, the Barbs were called for traveling. Conroy again split 2 free throws, but Michael Pollack's potential tying 3-pointer fell short, and Jacob Gomes' free throw with 13 seconds left made it a 2-possession game.
Kaneland outscored DeKalb 18-8 in the fourth quarter. The Knights also shot 54.5 percent (18 of 33) for the game and only committed 11 turnovers.
“We finally locked in and decided we were going to contain and keep people in front of us,” Joe Conroy said. “I'm really proud of what they did because they really executed later in the game better than they did early in the game defensively.
“I thought it was a great atmosphere, great high school basketball game. To do it on our home floor for these seniors is special.”
Vaca (13), Conroy (11) and Lilly (10) joined David in double figures.
Nicholas Snow led DeKalb with 15 points.
“There were three areas we had to concentrate on,” DeKalb coach Al Biancalana said. “One was toughness, another was execution and the third one was awareness. And I thought we got beat in all three areas. When those things happen we have no chance to win. They were definitely the tougher team.”