DeKalb and Sycamore meet Friday at the NIU Convocation Center for a boys and girls doubleheader, part of the teams’ annual rivalry showcase.

The Barbs (11-14 this season) broke through on the girls’ side with a 40-29 win over the Spartans (15-9) last year, snapping Sycamore’s 10-game winning streak at the Convo.

On the boys side, DeKalb (8-12) won for the fourth straight year against its rivals, beating the Spartans (17-3) 59-38. Sycamore won the trophy game in 2021 in a game played in its gym due to COVID-19 restrictions. Their last win at the Convocation Center against DeKalb was in 2013.

The girls’ game tips off at 6 p.m. with the boys’ game to follow.

Sycamore boys and girls teams enter with a full week off

Both DeKalb teams played on Tuesday, with the boys having lost 53-49 to Marmion and the girls having lost 65-53 to Waubonsie Valley.

Both Sycamore teams, on the other hand, haven’t played since Jan. 23, when each team beat Rochelle in a home doubleheader.

Sycamore boys coach Ethan Franklin said he saw it as a positive in the sense that the Spartans can spend an entire week focused on DeKalb. He feels their practices are set up in such a way rust won’t be an issue.

Sycamore girls coach Adam Wickness said he sees both sides.

“You could say ‘They lost a little bit of their momentum, maybe they’re going to come out a bit sloppy, blah blah blah blah blah,’” Wickness said. “But on the flip side it’s allowed our girls to get some rest and gear up for these last three weeks.”

Both girls’ teams enter on hot streaks

It’s been an up-and-down year for DeKalb’s girls team, which earlier this season had a five-game losing streak as part of a larger 2-8 stretch.

But the Barbs followed that with four straight wins, and while they’ve lost two of three, the 65-53 loss Tuesday to Waubonsie Valley (23-1) was an improvement from the first meeting, a 79-29 loss in Aurora in December.

“We’ve just been locked in defensively on what we’re trying to do, specifically applying pressure to teams,” DeKalb coach Bradley Bjelk said. “Our defense has kind of helped get our offense going. That’s the main thing.”

Bjelk said after beating the Spartans twice last year, the Spartans are going to be very motivated this time around.

The Spartans enter the contest winning six of their last seven.

Strength vs. strength: Sycamore boys offense vs. DeKalb defense

Sycamore got to play its style, getting up and down the court in a 94-82 win against Rochelle on Friday.

Franklin said he’s not banking on that against the Barbs, who have only given up more than 63 points in a game twice and have held opponents under 50 nine times.

“Every game is its own entity,” Franklin said. “Styles make the fights, and on Friday against Rochelle we were able to get up and down and do what we want to do and were very successful. DeKalb is an extremely tough defensive unit and how we handle that is going to be much different.”

DeKalb coach Mike Reynolds said he’s been talking to the team about fighting through the tough times offensively behind strong defense.

“We’ve played a number of good offenses during the season to varying success,” Reynolds said. “We know our defense will have to be on point, and that’s pretty much the story for us.”

Sycamore looking for fifth win in trophy game

Even though DeKalb has dominated the series - Sycamore has just four wins since the teams started playing for a trophy in 2004 - the Spartans come in, on paper at least, looking like a favorite.

Reynolds said with senior Marcus Johnson joining the Spartans from Genoa-Kingston, Sycamore made the jump from a good Class 3A team to an elite one.

But even with an entirely new look from last year - the Barbs graduated 98% of their scoring and rebounding - Reynolds feels his club is ready for the big stage.

“I think we’ve played one of the best schedules in the state of Illinois and it’s prepared us for just about anything,” Reynolds said. “That’s kind of the way we designed it with this new group. They’ve put their best foot forward every night and I’d expect nothing different Friday night.”

Players to watch

Sadie Lang and Quinn Carrier are averaging just under 18 points per game and handle a lot of the heavy lifting for the Spartans. Senior Cortni Kruizenga has been coming on strong of late. ... DeKalb is a lot more balanced in its scoring. Johnna Patrick leads the way with 9.8 points per game and Olivia Schermerhorn is scoring 8.6. ... Isaiah Feuerbach and Johnson can explode at any moment for the Spartans, while Xander Lewis and Josiah Mitchell are key contributors on both ends as well. ... For DeKalb, the three-headed monster of Myles Newman, Aaron Ziga and Derrion Straughter handle a lot of key offensive and defensive duties.