Jacobs reigns again
Sometimes, offense wins championships.
A night after Jacobs held Johnsburg to 14 second-half points, the Golden Eagles allowed 70 points to St. Charles North but still cruised to the championship of the 18th Annual Golden Eagle Classic with an 89-70 victory in Algonquin on Saturday.
The title is the third straight at its own holiday tournament for the boys basketball team from Jacobs (10-2), which ran its winning streak to eight.
"I can't even explain how good it feels to win this tournament three times in a row," said 6-foot-5 Jacobs senior Conrad Krutwig, who scored a game-high 28 points to go with 8 rebounds. "No one had even won (the tournament) twice in a row, and we've won it three times in a row. I don't think that's a record that's going to get beaten."
St. Charles North (7-5) ran the court with Jacobs throughout a fast-paced, defense-starved first half and trailed just 40-38 at halftime. But the Eagles had too many weapons to contain.
In addition to Krutwig's big night, senior forward Tim Moran had 9 points, 9 assists and 11 rebounds, junior Mike Barch scored 24 points and grabbed 6 rebounds and sophomore point guard Mike Peterson notched three 3-pointers en route to 17 points.
"They run that flex offense with the cross screen and the down screen, and they just run it to perfection," said North Stars senior guard Nick Neari, who finished with a team-best 17 points. "It was hard for us to get up and pressure them because they kept going back door on us, and we didn't have the help side coming over."
Jacobs connected on 28-of-52 shots (53.8), but the North Stars were still within striking distance after Jake Juriga's inside bucket pulled them within 64-59 with 6:00 to play in the fourth quarter.
However, Krutwig responded with a spin move in the post for a basket. The North Stars then turned the ball over, and Barch swished a 3-pointer to put the Golden Eagles ahead 69-59 with 4:33 remaining, marking Jacobs' first 10-point lead of the game.
"We didn't defend as well as we can," North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. "We made an awful lot of mistakes defensively, and when you make mistakes against a team like this they score. That's the difference between good teams like Jacobs and other teams. It's a real, real tough gym to win in, I'll say that."
Barch gave Jacobs a 77-65 led with 2:01 remaining on a three-point play in transition, and the Eagles sank all 8 free throws down the stretch to finalize the three-peat.
Krutwig's 28 points were impressive considering he sat on the bench for the entire second quarter after picking up a technical foul, his second personal, with 30 seconds left in the first quarter. Kevin Arndt filled in and scored 3 points and deep Jacobs still outscored the North Stars 23-17 in the period.
"Everybody stepped up and knocked down shots," Moran said. "I think it shows we are a very deep team, and we have a lot of guys who can hurt you if you focus in on Conrad or me."