'Championship defense' carries Jacobs
To have a chance at a tournament three-peat, Jacobs had to defend its end of the court in a tight semifinal challenge from Johnsburg Friday.
The Golden Eagles trailed 26-24 at halftime, but they limited the Skyhawks to 14 second-half points and advanced to the title game of their own tournament with a 51-40 victory in Algonquin.
"We played championship defense in the second half," Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle said.
Jacobs (9-2) will try to win the Golden Eagle Classic for the third consecutive year when it faces St. Charles North (7-4), a 60-49 winner over Prairie Ridge, in the tournament title game today at 7:30 p.m. Jacobs beat St. Charles North 82-53 last year for the championship.
The Golden Eagles held Johnsburg (9-3) to 5 second-half field goals - none from 3-point range - on 15 attempts. The defense was never more dominant than in the fourth quarter, when Jacobs outscored the Skyhawks 21-7 and out-rebounded them 7-0 to erase a 33-30 deficit entering the final period.
Hinkle praised the defense overall but singled out the jobs done in the second half by 6-foot-3 senior forward Tim Moran on 6-7 Johnsburg junior C.J. Fiedorowicz (5 points) and by junior Mike Barch on Skyhawks junior guard Mike Dixon (12 points).
Moran grabbed 7 rebounds but didn't score in the game. However, he held Fiedorowicz scoreless in the second half.
"He's a tough kid," Fiedorowicz said of Moran. "He's not really tall, but he's a good ballplayer and he played good defense."
Barch held Dixon scoreless in the fourth quarter on 1 shot attempt. He also provided the offensive spark that flipped the game in less than a minute.
Johnsburg led 36-33 until Barch put home a missed shot for a basket. On the Skyhawks' next possession, he stole a perimeter pass and scored on a breakaway layup that put Jacobs ahead for good with 5:28 to play.
"Our main goal was to pressure their guards and make it hard for them to get C.J. the ball," Barch said. "Sean Meyer was guarding his guy really good and he couldn't really see, so I knew I could take a gamble and jump into the passing lane. Sure enough, he didn't see me, he threw it and I just tipped it ahead and had the layup."
After another Johnsburg missed shot, Barch capped his personal 7-0 run with a 3-pointer.
"He's always the spark of our team," Jacobs center Conrad Krutwig said of Barch.
If Barch was the spark, Krutwig was the steady fire that fueled the engine. The South Dakota recruit scored 23 points and pulled down 14 rebounds.
After Johnsburg trimmed the lead to 40-38 with 4:41 to play, Krutwig scored a layup, thanks to a bullet pass from Mike Peterson. He followed that up 30 seconds later by rattling home a long baseline jumper for a 44-38 lead with 3:18 to play. Krutwig started for Jacobs in the blowout of St. Charles North a year ago.
"They're definitely going to be a better team than they were last year," Krutwig said. "They have pretty much everyone back from last year, and Jon (DeMoss) is a good friend of mine, so it should be a battle."