Girls basketball: Mallory Armstrong, Sycamore run past Freeport in regional opener

SYCAMORE – Mallory Armstrong is usually the one boxing out on missed shots, setting up rebound opportunities for other players.

On Tuesday, she was the one grabbing the boards, helping the Spartans top Freeport 58-27 in the semifinals of the Class 3A Sycamore Regional.

The Spartans (20-12) were playing without 6-foot-4 center Evyn Carrier, who tweaked an ankle in the regular-season finale against Geneva. She was cleared to play, but coach Adam Wickness said she sat out to be cautious.

That led Armstrong to clean up inside, grabbing eight rebounds to go with eight points in the win over the Pretzels (9-24), who had a one-point win in a play-in game against Belvidere on Saturday.

“Obviously, I knew our 6-foot-4 post was gone, right?” Armstrong said. “I knew we had to have other people step up instead of other people making the threat. So I thought, ‘My turn to put my name in there.’ So I did it.”

Wickness said he was glad to see Armstrong have the game she did down low.

“Typically she’s the one who boxes out and someone else comes in and cleans it up,” Wickness said. “So I was really excited for her to be able to box out and then get the rebound. It was nice to see her get some of those numbers she doesn’t normally get, because she does a lot of the little, dirty stuff. Doesn’t always translate into the stat line.”

Armstrong was also one of five Spartans to drain a 3-pointer in the first half. Lexi Carlsen went most of the first half with only two points, but she drained three 3s as part of a 13-4 run to close the second quarter.

Sophie Klacik hit a 3 during that stretch as well after draining three in the first quarter. She finished with 12, Carlsen had 14, and the Spartans were 10 for 19 from 3-point range in the first half.

“When you come out of the gate shooting the ball like that, you like your chances of winning,” Wickness said. “It didn’t really matter what they were doing, we were moving the ball really well. When you knock down shots, you put a lot of points on the board. We had 44 at halftime, and typically we’re in the upper 40s to lower 50s for the game.”

Sycamore never trailed, as Armstrong started the scoring with a 3-pointer. The game was tied at 5, but Sycamore scored 16 straight to take control. The lead never got below 14 again.

Carlsen also grabbed eight rebounds, and Monroe McGhee had an eight-point, six-rebound effort.

Next up for the Spartans is Kaneland for the regional title at 7 p.m. Thursday. The teams split the regular-season series, with Kaneland’s win on Dec. 7 handing the Spartans their first conference loss in 51 games.

Sycamore won the rematch earlier this month 50-40.

“I feel like the first game we overlooked them and didn’t put all our effort into them,” Armstrong said. “Now we know who they are and we’re ready to move on and keep going.”

Wickness said seeing a team like Geneva in the regular-season finale, a 56-51 overtime loss, will help the Spartans prepare for the Knights (14-16).

“I want to make sure we have a clean game against them,” Wickness said. “I watched some film of that game, and we looked sloppy. Part of that is Kaneland is aggressive on defense, on-ball especially. They get after you, they push you around. ... We just have to make sure we’re poised. I think the way we handled Geneva’s pressure on Thursday is good preparation.”