Majerus a major reason for this Sycamore win

A quick change in the locker room, and Kate Majerus was ready.

Off to Sycamore for Sycamore vs. Vernon Hills, Part 2.

"Hopefully, we'll get a second win today against Vernon Hills," said Majerus, who was bundled in her cold weather gear and clutching a big flannel blanket.

Majerus, a junior guard on the Sycamore girls basketball team, had just helped her team early Saturday morning to a 34-30 victory over host Vernon Hills in the Cougar Classic Thanksgiving tournament.

The Spartans (3-0) were in a rush to get home to Sycamore to catch their classmates on the football team in their Class 5A state semifinal game, ironically against Vernon Hills as well.

"I'm so excited to see everyone at the game," Majerus said. "It's so cool. We're so excited and we're ready to go."

Majerus did her part to make sure it was a happy bus ride back to the football game.

She hit 4-of-5 free throws over the final 30 seconds to help the Spartans come from behind and pull out what was for the most part a nip-and-tuck game.

"I love shooting free throws at the end," Majerus said. "I practice so many free throws every single day that it's kind of just muscle memory now. It's what I like to do."

Majerus finished with a game-high 12 points while teammates Kylie Feuerbach and Darely Duarte added 8 points apiece.

Both teams showed a little bit of early-season sloppiness, with missed shots and turnovers. Sycamore had 15 turnovers while Vernon Hills (1-2) had 19 turnovers, a day after rolling up 30 turnovers against Lake Forest.

"We have to limit our turnovers. We're losing so many possessions, that's two games in a row," Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner said. "The other team is getting a lot of hands on a lot of balls. Deflections and turnovers are really taking us out of what we want to do."

Sophomore forward Kayla Caudle led Vernon Hills with 7 points while guard Sophia Lehocky and sophomore guard Piper Bedell added 6 points apiece.

"We're starting out a little slow this season," Caudle said. "We need to learn how to finish games strong. We need to know how to pull through."