Hampshire falls, Huntley wins in openers

Marty Manning

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SYCAMORE -- Hampshire had its opportunities but fell to Sycamore 55-53 Wednesday night in each team's season opener at the Spartans' own tournament.

Trailing most of the game, the Whip-Purs battled back to within 54-53 when senior Will Bush knocked down a jumper in the lane with 14 seconds left.

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Marty Manning

On the inbounds play, the Whips tried to foul right away, but a foul wasn't called until three seconds remained.

After the Spartans' Kyle Szychlinski missed his second of two free throws, Bush got the rebound and threw up a prayer from three-quarter-length court that hit the back of the rim.

"You know what? I thought it had a shot," Whip-Purs coach Bob Barnett said of Bush's effort. "We set it up as a guy gets a rebound, dribbles it to halfcourt, puts one up and we hope.

"We got screwed out of a couple seconds there at the end, too. That's a quick finger. You get a rebound and it's already at two (seconds). But they are at home and that's what is going to happen."

Sycamore came out on fire in the first half, knocking down six 3-pointers.

The Spartans took a 27-13 lead two minutes into the second quarter, but Hampshire responded by knocking down three consecutive 3-pointers of its own, two from Justin Bieber and one from Mike Kozenczak.

Bieber ended his night with a team-high 16 points, while Kozenczak added 13.

The Whips had several chances in the game, but turned the ball over 14 times and missed three fastbreak layups, including two in the second half.

"The old adage is no moral victories, but let's say I'm not as ticked off as I should be for a loss," Barnett said. "We missed a few layups, but it's not like we are that far below our competition.

Hampshire senior James Goebbert chipped in 10 points, six of which came in the third quarter on three consecutive baskets.

Bush ended his night with nine points.

Huntley 56, Stillman Valley 47 -- After a back-and-forth battle through three quarters, the Red Raiders finally pulled away from the Cardinals in an opening-round game.

Senior Tyler Lawrence and junior Joe Muren each came off the bench and keyed the Red Raiders' victory.

Lawrence connected on two fourth-quarter 3-pointers to finish with a team-high 15 points, while Muren stepped it up defensively to help keep Stillman Valley scoreless through the final three minutes.

"Without Joe defensively and Tyler offensively, there's no way we win this game," said Huntley coach Marty Manning. "They were huge off the bench for us."