Barbs two wins from perfect season
DeKalb, one of a handful of unbeaten teams left in the area, is sticking by the story that finishing the season undefeated isn’t something it’s talking about.
Juniors Tyler Westberg and Lane McVicar both held firm to the “taking it one game at a time” cliché, as did Barbs coach Mike Reynolds. But McVicar did concede the team is enjoying its run.
“We’re going to go get some ice cream right now,” he said.
The wholesome celebration came after a 69-48 win against Neuqua Valley on Monday in Naperville. The Barbs are 17-0 and 9-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference.
McVicar was wearing a pair of South Elgin sweatpants after the game. He hasn’t been with DeKalb very long, having transferred over the summer with no clue he was joining such a talented team.
“I had no idea,” he said. “I’m from DeKalb. I moved to South Elgin to live with my dad. But when I came here, I never expected to be around such a great group of guys. My freshman year, we went really far with South Elgin. That was one of the funnest years, and this definitely tops that. This is the best group of guys I’ve ever been around.”
McVicar scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Westberg shot 6-for-9 from three-point range and finished with 22 points. Senior Trenton Kyler added 19 points.
The Barbs play with confidence and aggression. They jumped out to a 22-2 lead and were ahead 34-13 at halftime.
“Defensively, that is who we are — we play hard,” Reynolds said. “This is a conference game on the road. You’re not winning by 100. You get a nice cushion and play hard and continue to fight. We weren’t great in the third quarter.”
Early on, the game seemed destined for a 30-point running clock, but Neuqua Valley (9-4, 4-4) didn’t allow it and showed plenty of heart in the second half. Senior Connor Davis scored 14 of his game-high 25 points in the third quarter. He finished with eight rebounds.
“[Davis] kind of took over,” Reynolds said. “That’s what he’s done, at
least my two years here. So we had trouble guarding him for a while. But once we’ve had the lead in the fourth quarter, we’ve been pretty good, and we were able to space the floor and figure out a way to win.”
Sophomore Mark Mennecke scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds for Neuqua Valley. The Wildcats played without Yale recruit
John Poulakidas, who became the school’s all-time leading scorer last month. He has been struggling with an injury all season.
The Barbs play Tuesday at Naperville Central and Saturday at rival Sycamore. A perfect 19-0 is within their grasp, which is the most any team can hope for in this pandemic season without a state playoff.
“We’ve taken it week by week, and we are going to try and do the same thing again,” Reynolds said. “We have two left — unless we find somebody else to play.”