Jacobs ends St. Charles North's title hopes
Near perfection.
That's how Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle characterized the play of his veteran team after watching it dominate the third quarter of a convincing 82-53 victory over St. Charles North in the title game of the Golden Eagle Classic Saturday night.
Jacobs (12-1) had already outscored the upstart North Stars 17-10 in each of the first two quarters, but the display that followed halftime was dazzling.
Jacobs -- the top-ranked team in the Daily Herald Top 20 -- connected on its first 12 shots of the second half and forced 7 St. Charles North turnovers before it made a miscue of its own.
Senior John Moran -- who else? -- ignited the third-quarter onslaught. First, the Northern Iowa-bound guard notched a three-point play in transition, then dished a no-look pass on the following fast break to center Conrad Krutwig, who slammed it home one-handed.
A Moran 3-pointer from the top of the arc ballooned the lead to 22 points and forced St. Charles North to call timeout.
"I don't know what got into us," said Moran, a unanimous all-tournament selection who finished with a game-high 19 points to go with 7 assists 6 rebounds and 4 steals. "We just started hitting shots. I don't know. It was fun."
Fun wasn't quite the word used to describe the third quarter by St. Charles North (7-8), which saw its 5-game winning streak snapped emphatically.
"It was the worst way to start the second half," North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. "We talked about being down only 7 possessions, trying to win as many possessions as we can and, hopefully, we could battle them in the fourth quarter. But it didn't happen. Jacobs is good. They came out and got themselves high-percentage looks, whether it was from the correct guys behind the arc or layups.
"It's really just a case of them doing whatever they wanted tonight, to be honest. We did not play well. We're a lot better team than we showed."
Jacobs scored 35 points in the third quarter to take a 69-36 lead to the final period. The Golden Eagles shot 13 of 16 in the third quarter alone and sank 33-of-53 shots for the game (62 percent).
"That was as close to a perfect quarter as I've ever had, that I've ever witnessed," Hinkle said. "The defense keyed the offense and the offense took it over. Just incredible. I became a spectator. It was fun to watch."
With the win, the host school became the first to ever win the Jacobs tournament back-to-back in its 17-year history.
"It was really nice to come out in the championship and try to make a statement," said junior center Tim Moran, who finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds. "I think winning the championship game by 25 or whatever makes a pretty good statement."
Despite the sour ending St. Charles North enjoyed an excellent tournament, winning four straight before running into a buzzsaw dressed in brown uniforms.
"I think the five-game winning streak we put together by beating Elgin (prior to the tournament) and the four games we won in this tournament was big for us," said North Stars junior Zach Hirsch. "Jacobs is probably one of the top teams in the state. Once we learn to play at their level, we should be able to play with teams of their caliber."
Added Poulin: "We're a little disappointed, but we're real happy with what we were able to accomplish at this tournament. We just got done telling the guys how much we love them and how proud we are that we've come from 2-7 to the point we are right now. We're happy."