Jacobs' size too much for Huntley

Jacobs wanted to make sure to take advantage of its size against Huntley.

Katy Cook took full advantage and then some, finishing with one of the best games of her career as she scored 18 points to go along with 6 rebounds, 2 steals, an assist and a block.

Cook's effort guided Jacobs to a 53-43 victory over the visiting Red Raiders in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division girls basketball action Tuesday night in Algonquin.

"We had to come together as a team and play smart, half-court basketball," Cook said. "We know we are one of the bigger teams. We go into every game knowing we have to pound it inside."

The Golden Eagles (8-2, 2-0) used Cook's size advantage to help counter a 17-point third quarter from Huntley. The Red Raiders (4-5, 0-2) had trailed 23-16 going into the second half, but exploded for 17 points in the third period.

Cook countered by scoring 8 points, including 2 in the final minute of the period to put Jacobs ahead 41-33 going into the fourth quarter. Rachel Chapuis (11 points, 3 steals) brought the Red Raiders to within 37-31 after converting a 3-point play with 1:04 left in the quarter. Jacobs bounced back as Hailey Cnota (12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 assists) found an open Cook under the basket to put Jacobs up 39-31.

Mercedez Kennedy got a quick bucket for Huntley, but Cook nabbed a Cnota miss and span around to score as time expired in the third quarter to put the Golden Eagles up 41-33. Of Cook's 6 rebounds, 5 were offensive. Jacobs owned a 26-8 advantage on the glass.

"She does a lot of the dirty work," Jacobs' coach Ed Haugens said of Cook's game. "Katy is a work horse. She does a lot of the little things that people don't notice sometimes."

Huntley took notice. After Cook's buzzer-beater, it took the Red Raiders 4 minutes, 47 seconds to score another field goal. Jacobs, on the other hand, used the momentum and built a 49-33 lead with 4 points from Melanie Schwerdtmann (8 points). Things were made worse for Huntley as senior Hillary Johnson was unavailable after an injury she sustained during a car accident this week. This was the first game the Red Raiders played without their starting forward, who coach Steve Raethz expects back during the holiday break.

"Right now we're fighting consistency," Raethz said. "We have a lack of consistency on both sides of the floor. We did not do a good job of boxing out and getting after loose balls."

Jacobs also forced Huntley into 7 turnovers in the fourth quarter and 28 in the game. Maria Tamburrino (5 assists) finished with 9 steals and Sierra Dunner (9 points, 3 assists) added 4 steals. Carly Goede added 10 points for the Red Raiders.