Kaneland can't catch up to DeKalb

DeKALB - Opportunity was knocking for the Kaneland boys basketball team against league-leading DeKalb Friday night, but the Knights came up empty down the stretch.

The Knights trailed DeKalb by just 2 points and had possession with 1:20 left to play, but misfired on a hurried 3-pointer then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 on their following possession.

The host Barbs knocked down 5 of 6 free throws and added a transition layup in the final minute to secure a hard-fought 57-48 Northern Illinois Big XII East victory.

Knights' senior Blake Feiza tallied a game-high 15 points, but was held scoreless over the final 13 minutes. Senior Rhett Espe finished with 9 points for Kaneland while Kyle Stuart and Luke Brost added 6 points each.

"We were right where we wanted to be," said Kaneland coach Joe Conroy. "We played incredibly hard and I felt like we did some really good things defensively and some things nice offensively, but it came down to some execution and rebounds."

Kaneland (7-13, 1-4) maintained a narrow 30-29 lead at halftime behind solid work in the post from Feiza, along with a pair of 3-pointers from Stuart.

However, DeKalb (10-9, 5-0) clamped down defensively in the second half and began crashing the offensive glass.

Wyatt Peeler's 3-pointer and Espe's driving layup kept the Knights temporarily in front, but a pair of follow-up baskets and a 3-pointer from Matt Montavon (14 points) gave DeKalb a 42-39 lead at the end of third quarter the Barbs did not relinquish.

"We talked about before the game that it was going to come down to rebounding and keeping them off the offensive boards," said Conroy, as DeKalb tallied 9 second-chance points. "When we look at the film later, I think we're going to find that we got outrebounded on that end pretty bad."

With the Barbs collapsing down on Feiza, the Knights tried to drive into the paint, but mustered just 2 fourth quarter field goals. Matt Olson tallied Kaneland's final points on a trifecta with 1:42 left to pull within 50-48.

"We just kept trying to get Blake the ball, but their post defense is pretty good," Espe said. "We'd throw it in to him and they'd double, and he just wasn't able to get going in the second half like he was in the first."

"We had some turnovers that DeKalb forced because they're incredibly athletic. They're active on defense and they pushed us around the floor," Conroy said.

Kaneland limited DeKalb standout senior Marcus Bobo to just 5 points, but Blake Williams, Michael Vilet and Trenton Kyler picked up the slack with 8 points each.