Moran responds to Cary-Grove's challenge
Jacobs senior Tim Moran is a polite teenager from a good Algonquin family, but Cary-Grove had him pegged as the lesser of two evils Wednesday night.
That's how most opponents view Moran in light of the consistent 20-plus point production the Jacobs boys basketball team gets from senior Conrad Krutwig, Moran's 6-foot-5 partner in the post.
During the second quarter of the Golden Eagles' 53-46 victory over visiting Cary-Grove in the Valley Division opener for both teams on Wednesday night, Moran made the Trojans pay for leaving him open when given the choice.
The game was tied at 10 early in the second quarter when Jacobs (15-2, 1-0) attacked with a high pick and roll between Krutwig and Moran - "It's called T-C. It's not too hard to figure out," Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle said - and Moran buried 4 long, open jump shots when the Trojans left him open to double Krutwig inside.
Moran scored 10 of his 12 points in the quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers, which helped stake Jacobs to a 27-17 halftime lead. The Golden Eagles extended their advantage to 13 points in the fourth quarter and withstood a late Cary-Grove push that trimmed the score to 49-44 with 18.8 seconds to play.
"Our game plan was to dare Timmy to shoot the ball, and we said even if he hits 2 or 3 (shots) we had to keep leaving him because you have to pick your poison with Conrad or Moran," Cary-Grove guard Chris Swenson said.
Such pressure is nothing new to Moran.
"If I'm able to knock down a few shots off the pick and roll, they have to be honest with that and it makes it harder for them to double down on Conrad," Moran said.
In fact, Krutwig said that in the wake of Moran's second-quarter shooting exhibition, he didn't face another double team until the fourth quarter. Krutwig scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the second half and led all rebounders with 15.
"Cary was choosing to let Tim have the shot and Tim said thank you," Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle said. "Timmy's an awfully good player. He's Robin to Batman. He's a nice sidekick for Conrad to have and he can really hurt teams if they're going to put everything on Conrad, and that's what they did when we went to the T-C."
The victory extended Jacobs' winning streak to 13 games. Cary-Grove (11-6, 0-1) saw its 4-game win streak snapped despite 14 points from senior forward Brandon Coleman.
The Trojans sliced a 13-point deficit to 6 points on a Matt Nelsen 3-pointer and 2 baskets by Chad McCarron (9 points) that capped a 4-point possession with 2:55 to play. However, the Trojans missed 3 shots on their next 2 possessions that would have made for a more interesting finish.
Cary-Grove junior Matt Jones played his first game as a starter after point guard Pete Pellizzari was lost for the season on Saturday with a broken fibula. Jones scored 9 points, second only to Coleman.
"Pete's our captain and he brought leadership and defense to the table," Coleman said. "But Jones can score and he proved that. He hit some shots, and he's a good player too. It'll hurt us to be without Pete, but we'll be all right."