Chargers say they're ready for Jacobs
The chant "Bring on Jacobs" began from the Dundee-Crown student section Tuesday night with just under a minute remaining.
Before the Chargers could worry about Friday's first-place showdown with its Fox Valley Conference Valley Division rival, they had to get past Cary-Grove. That proved to be fairly easy as D-C cruised to a 58-42 victory over the Trojans in Carpentersville.
"We talked about (not looking ahead). That was a big concern from my perspective," Chargers coach Lance Huber said. "It was emphasized quite heavily."
D-C (13-4) and Jacobs both head into Friday's matchup in Algonquin at 4-0 in the Valley. The teams will meet again Feb. 27 in the regular-season finale.
"We've got two days to prepare for them. We can think about them for those two days," D-C senior guard Jeff Beck said.
The Chargers jumped on the Trojans (11-10, 0-4) early Tuesday. With the game tied at 2-2, D-C senior center Charles Kimbrough hit a short jumper. His dunk 1:20 into the second quarter capped a 14-0 run to give the Chargers a 16-2 lead. C-G would not get any closer than 10 the rest of the game.
"We wanted to come out and prove we were ready to play tonight," Beck said. "We wanted to come out strong and keep the lead the whole game."
The Trojans, who lost their fifth consecutive game all with starting guard Pete Pelizzari, went 1 for 12 from the field in the opening 8 minutes. Chad McKarron's layup a minute into the game was the Trojans' only bucket of the quarter.
C-G went 4 for 23 in the first half and trailed 29-13 at the break.
"We had a hard time making shots," C-G coach Ralph Schuetzle said. "We got great shots. It seemed like very shot was in-and-out. If we make a few shots in the first quarter it's a heck of a lot closer."
Beck led the Chargers with 13 points. Kimbrough finished with 12 points, hitting all five of his field-goal attempts, and 5 rebounds. Marcus Henry and Robert Stupar each added 9 points.
McCarron's 15 points led the Trojans. Chris Swenson added 9 points.