Jacobs notches 14th win in a row

When Jacobs boys basketball coach Jimmy Roberts analyzed his team's schedule after a disappointing fourth place finish in the Hinkle Holiday Classic, he told his team there was absolutely no reason for it to lose and of its final 14 regular-season games.

In fact, Roberts said he was going to do everything he possibly could to win 14-straight, and knew his Golden Eagles had it in them, too.

Parts 1 through 13, completed over the last 8 weeks, racked up an undefeated Fox Valley Conference Valley Division crown and nonconference wins against Waukegan, Elgin and Libertyville.

But part 14 of that long, second-half odyssey finally concluded Friday on Senior Night when Jacobs beat Prairie Ridge 71-61 in Algonquin in an FVC crossover between the two division leaders for the unofficial conference title.

It not only kept Jacobs perfect in 2015, but it improved the Eagles to 22-5 overall heading into Class 4A regional play next week at Bartlett with even more goals on the plate.

"He said that and we believed that and we did it," Jacobs guard Cory Boeckh said of the 14-game streak. "And it's a pretty big accomplishment heading into the playoffs."

The 61 points Jacobs allowed Friday was only the sixth time an opposing team notched 60-plus points and second time in 4 games the Eagles allowed 57-plus. But when you have the shooting prowess of Boeckh knocking down 3-pointers the way he was in the Eagles Nest against PR, there was no cause of concern in the defensive department.

The senior knocked down five 3-pointers en route to a team-high 19 points. Twice he nailed 3s in the first and third quarters (8 points in each quarter) to distance the Wolves, and Boeckh (5 of 10 from deep) was a sizzling 7-for-14 from the field against a 1-2-2 zone and trap from PR (15-12) that gave Jacobs fits throughout, even pinning the Golden Eagles into 22 turnovers.

"I'll never figure out what their rules are or what their principles are," Roberts said of the trap. "They just fly around and there's always active hands and it's tough."

Prairie Ridge fell behind 20-8 after one quarter of play, 31-15 midway through the second and by as many as 20 in the third but kept crawling back. The Wolves forced 10 turnovers alone in the second quarter to cut the lead to 11 at the half on back-to-back 3s and part of the 7 fourth quarter turnovers for Jacobs saw its double digit lead trimmed to 8 with 4:15 to go in the fourth.

"That was a little tricky, we kind of held onto the ball too long and they got their hands on the ball so we have to clean that up a little bit," Jacobs' Chrishawn Orange said. "Prairie Ridge is everywhere. They get hands up. They're flying. They're everywhere."

But Prairie Ridge couldn't equal Jacobs in the scoring column. PR's Payton Otto led all scorers with 21 points while teammate Joey Kinowski added 17, but four different Eagles hit double digits. Orange tallied 17 points to go along with 5 assists and 4 steals while Matt Bindi added 13 points and Cameron Krutwig notched 10 points and 9 rebounds. Jacobs shot 26 of 44 for a scintillating 59 percent and it dominated the Wolves for 36 points in the paint as well.

"We turned them over throughout the whole game but they made plays. Usually we turn a team over they don't make too many plays," said PR coach Corky Card, whose team shot 21 of 53 from the field. "I liked the pace of the game but I do not like giving up 71 but they hit some open shots, some shots with us on them and when we turned them over we did not make them pay for it early."

Jacobs' big third quarter gave it the pad it needed. Orange converted on a second chance, 3-point play with 4:29 left to make it 41-29. On the subsequent possession, Orange's steal led to a Boeckh 3 in the left wing for a 15-point lead and then Orange's layup made it 46-29 with 3:40 left, capping a quick 8-0 run. Boeckh would nail another 3 in the right wing for a 54-34 lead.

"We kept moving the ball, getting middle touches to Cam or Bindi, and they'd kick out for 3s or someone would dribble-drive in the paint and kick out or in transition," Boeckh said. "(PR's) very scrappy with their 1-2-2 zone, so you have to keep putting it on them."