The season’s not even a month old, and the Sycamore girls’ basketball team is already staring down last year’s win total.

Junior Quinn Carrier and sophomore Sadie Lang, both already drawing NCAA Division I attention, continue to power the Spartans’ attack. Carrier has already gone for 26 points in a game this year, and Lang has already put up 33.

But the Spartans are also seeing production from other spots in the lineup, something that’s helped them out more than once this year.

On Friday against Rochelle, they got contributions beyond the 30 points and 18 rebounds Carrier and Lang combined for. Grace Amptmann had six rebounds and two steals. The bench scored 19 points, including 3-for-3 shooting and six second-half points for junior Sydney Fabrizius

And when the Spartans needed a spark in the second half, Macy Calendo delivered.

The 5-foot-10 sophomore sharpshooter, after coming off the bench in the first half and missing the only shot she attempted, started the second half.

She drained a 3-pointer to open the third quarter, giving the Spartans a 30-18 lead. It never went to single digits again.

“I thought it was really awesome,” Calendo said. “I always really wanted that from the beginning, always wanted to be a starter. So I was really excited. ... I always practice my 3s. Threes are probably my biggest thing. When I saw those fall it was awesome for me.”

She added a 3-pointer at around the five-minute mark then drained a pair of free throws 15 seconds later as the Sycamore lead grew to 37-21, its biggest of the game. They had led 17-6 in the second quarter, but eight straight by the Hubs shrunk it before the half was over.

“Macy’s one of our top shooters and I wanted to get Quinn inside, where she could start at the free-throw line, draw, and then kick for help,” coach Adam Wickness said. “Macy’s the type of shooter where she gets hot, she’ll hit four or five in a row. She’s got that mindset that she’s going to keep shooting and I thought at that point in time that’s what we kind of needed.”

The win got the Spartans off on the right foot in Interstate 8 play. Kaneland won the conference last year, with Sycamore fourth. The Spartans host LaSalle-Peru on Tuesday and the Knights on Friday.

They’re 5-2 this year, their losses a 55-51 loss to a 6-1 Burlington Central team and 55-46 to a Class 4A Neuqua Valley team (2-3).

The Spartans ended last season on an 11-game losing streak, had their first losing season since 2011 and worst record since a 5-23 campaign in 2008. They were 8-23, a win total they should be able to match by the end of the calendar year.

“Last year it was just [Lang and Carrier] together,” Calendo said. “They’re really great players, we really value them on our team. I really want us to grow as a team and branch out. I hope to see that this season.”

Last year’s team featured just two seniors, both back-of-the-rotation players. There are five seniors this year, including starters Amptmann and Kruizenga.

Growing pains were inevitable last year, Wickness said. After an offseason focused on taking things to the next level, the payoff is showing up in the results so far. There’s still room for improvement, Wickness said, but he likes the direction the team is heading.

“Last year was really a year of growth for us,” Wickness said. “That’s what we really focused on as we got into the season. It’s time to really learn how to win. It’s time to learn to do the things we have to do to learn to win basketball games. And I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that so far.”