OTTAWA — Back on Jan. 4, Sycamore senior Evyn Carrier wasn’t in the lineup against Ottawa due to injury, and head coach Adam Wickness also had to miss the contest because of illness.
But the Spartans still prevailed throughout a tense, three-point Interstate Eight Conference girls basketball victory at Sycamore.
The stakes were much higher Friday evening, this time at Ottawa, where both teams were battling for current league supremacy, each with only one loss.
That’s where Carrier – back for only her fourth game since returning to the fold – took over the court.
The 6-foot, 4-inch Western Michigan University signee produced an impressive double-double of 19 points and 17 rebounds to lead Sycamore (14-11, 9-1 I-8) in a 49-36 victory over Ottawa (18-6, 8-2 I-8) at Kingman Gym, which puts the Spartans in the driver’s seat for the conference championship.
“This was a huge game for us on the road in front of a big crowd, and I was ready to go from the start,” Carrier said. “I had to miss the last one against them because I was hurt, but tonight I wanted to leave everything on the court. We were locked in like it was a sectional championship, and we treated it that way, and I needed to do my thing.
“But overall, I believe it was a team win with everybody contributing to keep us on top in the conference.”
Sophia Klacik tossed in 16 tallies as the Spartans shot a respectable 19 of 45 (42%) from the field, with Carrier hitting on six deuces, one triple and four free throws that carried her team to victory.
“We didn’t have Evyn the first time we played Ottawa, and I was gone too, so coming in here tonight with such a great effort against a very good team was pretty special,” Wickness said. “We had that killer instinct, and I could tell it riding the bus here. We knew this was a huge conference game for us with both teams being 8-1, and Evyn just killed it.
“I told her at halftime that I thought this might be the best I’ve ever seen her rebound in the four years she’s been with our program. She was very special on the court this evening, and so was our team performance.”
The Pirates saw a game-high 21 points off the hands of sophomore Marlie Orlandi. But after that, only five markers came from sophomore Hailey Larsen, as Ottawa was ice cold from the floor hitting only 12 of 50 (24%) while trying to contend with Carrier’s presence.
“Evyn Carrier’s a very nice player, and there’s a reason why she’s going to play Division I basketball at Western Michigan,” Ottawa coach Brent Moore said. “She’s done a lot of damage to our conference for four years, and tonight getting 19 points and 17 rebounds is no joke.
“For us to win games like this, when we get open looks we have to convert, and we didn’t tonight against a very good team. Now we’re a game down for the conference championship. Anything can happen down the stretch, so hopefully we’ll get a little help over the next four conference games.”
The Pirates jumped out to an early 7-2 lead with Orlandi’s top-of-the-key 3 pointer at 5:35. But the Spartans responded with a 19-2 run as Klacik buried 3-balls at 5:10 and 3:05 followed by a deuce at 1:50 to give her eight points in the first quarter. Sycamore led 21-11 after one period of play.
Carrier and Klacik then spurred a 12-3 rally with five points apiece in the second stanza to go up 33-14 before Orlandi nailed 3-bombs at 1:35 and 0:15 to pull the Pirates to a 33-20 deficit at halftime.
But Carrier owned the third quarter, scoring eight points including a nifty bucket off the glass at 1:35 that staked Sycamore to a 45-27 advantage with eight minutes to contest. There she’d add her final points of the night after an Ottawa turnover and a breakaway layup at 4:25 of the final frame to put Sycamore ahead 47-27 before the benches eventually emptied moments later.
“Tonight we wanted to help seal a conference championship the best that we could,” Carrier said. “We still have some work to do in order to do that, but now we know we’re on a good track to accomplish a big team goal.”