Trick play lifts Dundee-Crown over Jacobs
Sometimes intense film study finds a play that can be utilized during a crucial part of a game.
Dundee-Crown boys basketball coach Lance Huber found that play while Rolling tape on Jacobs this week.
Here's the scenario.
Huber called a timeout with 6 seconds left in Friday's game and his Chargers trailing 55-54.
D-C senior guard Marcus Henry took the ball out of bounds and promptly bounced the ball off the buttocks of Jacobs sophomore Mike Peterson. Henry picked up the loose ball and laid it in to give the Chargers a 56-55 lead.
Tim Moran's desperation 30-foot heave was short and D-C claimed an exhilarating 1-point win over the Golden Eagles in Carpentersville.
"I saw that Jacobs turns their back on inbounds play and thought the play might work," said Huber. "Jacobs was playing great defense and I thought they would take away all our options. Marcus stepped up and made a play."
Henry was confident the play would work.
"It is a play we really never practiced but in the last timeout coach Huber thought it would work," said Henry. "The other four guys were decoys and I was able to scoot after the ball in space and get an easy shot. I wasn't nervous.
"Words can't describe this win."
The win gives the Chargers the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division outright with a perfect 10-0 record. Jacobs (24-3 overall) finishes 8-2 in league play. The two District 300 rivals could meet at D-C again next Friday with a regional championship on the line.
With the score tied at 28 at halftime Conrad Krutwig, who was held to 4 points in the first half, nailed a 3-pointer to give the Golden Eagles a 31-28 lead with less than a minute elapsed in the second half.
Jacobs' biggest lead was 6, 41-35, after a layup by Peterson with 1:42 left in the quarter.
But the Chargers (19-5 overall) bounced back to score the final 8 points of the quarter. A 3-pointer by Rob Stupar with 29 seconds left gave the Chargers a 43-41 lead heading into the final 8 minutes.
With D-C leading 52-51, Krutwig scored on a pair of layups to give Jacobs a 55-52 advantage with 54 seconds left.
A Jeff Beck 10-footer with 39 seconds pulled D-C within a point at 55-54. Jacobs, which was a horrid 6-of-15 from the free throw line for 40 percent, could have taken control of the game but Peterson missed the front end of a 1-and-1 situation which gave the Chargers a chance to win.
"We had our opportunities and didn't capitalize on them and they took advantage of their opportunities," said Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle. "It was a great game and D-C was very deserving of a conference championship."
Greg McNally led a balanced Charger attack with 13 points. Henry, Beck and Charles Kimbrough scored 10 each.
Krutwig led Jacobs with 18 points and Mike Barch scored 10.