St. Charles North 58, Jacobs 34
ROCKTON -- The Jacobs girls basketball team knew exactly what it wanted to against St. Charles North here Tuesday night in the semifinals of the Class 4A Hononegah sectional.
The North Stars just wouldn't let it happen.
Using a career-high 34 points and 15 rebounds from 6-foot-4 junior Kelsey Smith, St. Charles North rolled over the Golden Eagles 58-34 to advance to its first sectional title game in program history.
The North Stars (22-5) will take on host Hononegah (26-6) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for the sectional title and the right to meet either Buffalo Grove or Wheeling in next Monday's supersectional at Elgin Community College.
Jacobs closed out its season at 17-12.
"We came out with a game plan and that was to pressure the basketball and front the post. We just didn't execute the plan very well," said Jacobs coach Ed Haugens.
That was due in part to the smoothness the North Stars showed for the better part of the night on both ends of the floor. With guards Anna Conrad, Nika Sircher and Kiley Hackbarth controlling the tempo on both ends, Smith was able to get many uncontested shots. She was 13-for-15 shooting as SCN went 21-for-37 as a team on the night.
"We had to work hard to get Kelsey the ball," said North junior guard Conrad, who had 5 assists to go with 5 points and 3 steals. "We knew they were a quick team but we came out strong, Kelsey stands out and she's a great player but I don't think (Jacobs) expected us to be as quick as we are."
With Smith scoring St. Charles North's first 9 points, and 11 in the first quarter, the North Stars broke out to a 16-11 lead. Jacobs got a 3-pointer from Keri Bultman (10 points) to open the second quarter and make it 16-14 but that would be the only points the Golden Eagles would score in the quarter. By halftime, St. Charles North had opened up a 25-14 lead -- with Smith scoring the final 6 points -- and Jacobs never got closer than 8 the entire second half.
"What helped us is looking at what (Jacobs) wanted to do offensively and we had great anticipation on that end," said St. Charles North coach Katie Sauber. "We weren't going to let them packing the middle hold us back. We take great pride in being a very tough defensive team and that's one thing we can control. We can score as many points as we want but if we don't stop them from scoring we haven't achieved anything."
To Smith, it was all about her teammates.
"The guards were phenomenal tonight," she said. "Their passes were so good. They were looking inside all night and they did an awesome job."
The Golden Eagles never quit, which is one reason Smith was in the game longer than she normally is. But St. Charles North's run to end the second quarter did deflate Jacobs somewhat.
"We have a young team and we just didn't keep the intensity up," said Golden Eagles senior standout Markie Rahn, who finished her stellar final season with a 10-point night. "They hit a couple 3s and got ahead of us and our intensity level dropped off.
"That team (SCN) is very well rounded. They do it inside and outside and they have good defense."
With Rahn and Stephanie Leddy the only seniors on the team, Haugens has much to look forward to with his returning players.
"I'm proud of the kids, and especially the seniors, for what they accomplished," he said. "It turned out to be a good season and this is one of the most enjoyable groups I've had to coach since I've been here. They were a lot of fun. Hopefully this will be a learning experience for the younger kids."
For the North Stars, the host Hononegah team and its brand of shoot-it, shoot-it, shoot-it basketball is up next.
"They're a lot like Jacobs," said Sauber of the Indians. "They like to put a lot of pressure on and they shoot a lot of 3s."
But, like Jacobs, Hononegah's tallest player won't be seeing eye-to-eye with a Kelsey Smith.