Jacobs 48, Crystal Lake South 35

Stifling, harassing and relentless.

All those words aptly describe Jacobs' defensive effort Tuesday night.

Holding host Crystal Lake South to only 8 points in the second and third quarters, the top-seeded Golden Eagles were able to grind out a 48-35 win over the fourth seeded Gators in a semifinal game of the Class 4A Crystal Lake South boys basketball regional Tuesday night.

"They got a couple of good looks early in the game and we had a poor switch." said Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle. "Other than that we played a great defensive game. Our defense won the game for us tonight."

Jacobs (25-2) will play for the regional championship Friday night at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of tonight's Dundee-Crown vs. Cary-Grove game.

The Gators did come out on fire in the first quarter. South (15-14), which made 5 of its first 7 shots for 71 percent and connected on all 3 of its 3-point attempts, led 14-7 late in the first quarter. Threes by Wesley Evans, Mike Brockway and Eric Wilde enabled the Gators to open up a 7-point lead.

The Jacobs' defense totally shut down the Gators in the second and third quarters.

South made only 1-of-10 shot attempts in scoring 2 points in the middle quarter.

The third quarter wasn't better as South made only 2-of-9 from the floor for 22 percent and tallied only 6 points. In the middle 2 quarters, the Gators connected on only 3-of-22 shots for 14 percent.

"In the first quarter we moved the ball well and got good shots," said Gators coach Dan DeBruycker. "In the second quarter, we started to settle for shots and got sloppy with the ball."

The Golden Eagles got a gutsy performance from standout John Moran.

Moran, who didn't start because of a bruised hip, entered the game with 2:16 left in the first quarter and the Golden Eagles trailing 12-7. The senior point guard scored 21 points with three 3-pointers. He added 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

"The hip was a little sore but it loosened up as the game went on," said Moran. "I really didn't think about it much."

Hinkle was almost speechless in describing Moran's effort.

"I wish we didn't have to use him tonight," said Hinkle. But South came out on fire and we didn't want to let this game get away from us. What else can you say about Johnny. He is a special player and his competitive juices got him through tonight. He was the catalyst to our win tonight."

Trailing 14-9 after one quarter, Jacobs came alive in the second quarter.

While holding the Gators to only 2 points, the Golden Eagles scored 12 including a 3 by Zack Peterson to beat the buzzer, which gave Jacobs a 21-16 halftime Advantage. Moran scored 7 in the quarter including a 3.

Jacobs kept widening the gap in the second half and led by as many as 13 42-29 after 2 free throws by Eric Schmidt with 1:08 left.

Evans was the lone Gator in double digits with 13.