Jacobs takes it to Dundee-Crown
Rival Jacobs took the steam out of Dundee-Crown's biggest boys basketball crowd of the season by opening the game on a 16-2 tear and never letting up throughout a 54-34 win in Carpentersville Tuesday.
“We were focused from the time we left school and everyone was just in the right mental mindset to come out and play hard,” said Jacobs junior guard Kenton Mack, who scored 9 of his 16 points during the initial barrage.
Mack scored in a variety of ways early: a tip in, a finger roll to finish a drive, a 3-pointer from the right side and a driving bank shot, which capped the surge and forced D-C to take its second timeout with 2:36 left in the first quarter.
Mack shot 7 of 8 from the field and junior guard Chrishawn Orange scored 10 of his game-high 17 points in the second half to lead Jacobs (14-13, 8-4), which finished alone in second place behind Huntley in the Fox Valley Conference's Valley Division.
“They're really hard to match up with,” said D-C coach Lance Huber, whose Chargers slipped to 7-17 overall, 3-9 in the FVC Valley. “Most of the time it takes two (defenders) to guard Chrishawn so you have to leave somebody, and tonight Kenton was the guy who was left open and he made us pay. Hats off to those guys.”
Jacobs led 19-8 after a quarter, 25-12 at the half and 37-21 through three. The Chargers' best run of the game — a 9-2 third-quarter push, fueled by 5 points from Kiwaun Seals and 4 from Malik Dunner — pulled D-C within 34-21. However Matt Bindi subsequently split 2 free throws and Orange held for the final shot before scoring on a drive.
“It was really our goal to come out and try to dominate the whole game and sustain that good play,” Orange said. “In the past we'd let down and that snowball effect would kind of happen. We really nipped it in the bud and never let down. It was a great game for us.”
It was the third straight outing in which Jacobs held an opponent under 40 points. Jacobs played zone defense about 50 percent of the time and D-C struggled from the field, shooting 10 of 34 overall, 2 of 12 from 3-point range. Jacobs made 19 of 34 attempts overall, 6 of 9 from beyond the arc.
“We defend, we defend, we defend,” Jacobs coach Jimmy Roberts said. “If we can score consistently and find guys to put the ball in the basket, we're going to be in pretty good shape.”
The Golden Eagles won the rebounding battle 26-18, led by 11 rebounds from freshman Cameron Krutwig, who added 7 points.
“A key emphasis when you're in zone is rebounding the ball,” Krutwig said. “I just found the ball and rebounded it pretty well. This is a great experience. I've got three more years of this. This is great.”
Junior guard Cory Boeckh sank all three of his 3-point attempts to finish with 9 points for Jacobs.
Senior guard Cordero Parson led Dundee-Crown with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Dunner and Seals each finished with 9 points.