Between Sycamore and DeKalb high schools, rivalries die hard.

And between NIU’s Amy Ward and Oral Roberts’ Kim Snow, that prep rivalry continued Wednesday night.

Playing at home for the first time since her days at DHS, Snow was greeted by an echoing cheer from her own DeKalb cheering section. A section that booed when Sycamore’s Ward was announced.

But that’s what you expect in this rivalry, Ward said.

“When we used to play, it was such a showdown because the history between our schools was serious,” Ward said.

But despite the rivalry, Ward seemed to always end up on top, Snow said. Except Wednesday.

“[Ward] always seemed to win when we played,” Snow said. “So when we got that last point it felt really good to win for a change.”

Losing always hurts, but the loss hurt twice as much losing to an old rival like Snow, Ward said.

Despite the rivalry, the separate schools and the different outcomes of their games, the two are still the best of friends.

Growing up together and playing against each other, the two came to know each other both on and off the court, Snow said.

“We used to carpool together to practice when we played on the same club team,” Ward said. “But we never got to play together because she was always a year older.”

So of course both took that extra second to acknowledge each other when it came time to shake hands at the end of the game.

“It’s so good to see my old friend again,” Ward said. “Too bad she got a piece of me [Wednesday] for once. I don’t like to lose, and especially not to an opponent like her, but at least we got to see each other again.”