Elk Grove comes back to jolt Jacobs
It was a second half Jacobs coach Joe Benoit would like to erase from his mind.
Connecting on only 1 of 20 shots, host Jacobs was outscored 26-8 by Elk Grove during the final 16 minutes and the visiting Grenadiers posted a 42-30 nonconference girls basketball victory in Algonquin Tuesday night.
“We got good looks inside the paint and from the outside but we couldn't get our shots to fall,” said Benoit. “It was a frustrating night. We just couldn't score. We need people to step up offensively. I liked our effort and our defense. We just need to shoot better.”
With an 18-point second quarter paced by 5 points each from Teaghan Richman and Kerri Healy, the Golden Eagles led 22-16 at halftime.
Elk Grove came out of the locker room energized, scoring the first 8 points of the second half. Mackenzie Flannery canned a 3-pointer and Carly Crothers and Sarah Pauscher each had baskets as the Grens (2-8) turned a 6-point halftime deficit into a 24-22 lead with 3:42 left in the third quarter.
The Golden Eagles' only points of the quarter came on 2 free throws by Nicole Durben to tie the game at 24 with 2:23 left in the quarter.
Crothers canned a pair of free throws to give Elk Grove a 26-24 lead heading into the final 8 minutes.
The Grens scored the first 4 points of the fourth quarter on buckets by Pauscher and Isabel Michniak to take a 30-24 advantage with 6:25 left in the game. Jacobs' only basket of the second half came on a 3-pointer by Healy with 4:41 remaining in the game to cut Elk Grove's lead to 30-27.
The Grens won the game at the free throw line by connecting on 12 of 15 from the line in the final 3 minutes.
Alex Masnica made 7 of 8 and Jenny Banak connected on 4 of 5 as Elk Grove sealed the victory from charity stripe.
Masnica paced the Grens with 11 points while Banak scored 9.
“I have been seeing small improvements in each game but it is nice to get the W tonight,” said Elk Grove coach Jennifer Guth. “We went to a 1-3-1 zone in the second half and we did a good job of clogging the lane and we forced them to take a lot of perimeter shots.”
Healy and Richman scored 7 points each for the Golden Eagles.